Little Rock bounces back to complete season sweep of Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, Illinois — Little Rock put aside Thursday's loss to quickly bounce back and beat Eastern Illinois, 55-48 at Groniger Arena, and take sole possession of second place in the OVC. The Trojans (8-13, 7-3 OVC) trailed early but used an efficient second period to take the lead three minutes before the break and never relinquish, leading by as many as 17 in the fourth and completing the regular season sweep of the Panthers (9-14, 6-4).
 
A reshuffled lineup saw Sha'Nequa Henry get her first start of the season and Jayla Brooks recapture her shot while leading the team with 18 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Faith Lee pumped in 16 points and pulled down four rebounds, and Trinity Hudson grabbed 10 rebounds to go with six points.
 
Little Rock continued its improved rebounding efforts, earning a 36-34 advantage over one of the top rebounding teams in the conference. The Trojans also held Eastern Illinois to just 36.2 percent shooting from the field (17-of-47) and just 1-of-14 shooting from long range. Macy McGlone led the Panthers with 22 points and 13 rebounds, but no other player from EIU scored more than nine or grabbed more than five rebounds.
 
After trailing by three at the end of the first, Little Rock fell behind by its largest deficit – six – early in the second. Little Rock outscored the Panthers 22-8 in the remainder of the half to grab a 32-24 lead at the break. The Trojans were 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-6 at the line in the second period.
 
Little Rock took a 10-point lead into the fourth period and scored the first seven points of the frame to go ahead 53-36 with 7:59 to play. Eastern Illinois used a 10-0 run to trim that to 53-46 at the 2:40 mark but managed just one made shot and a pair of turnovers the rest of the way.