It was a hard-fought battle in Charleston, Ill. Thursday night, but the Little Rock women's basketball team fell to Ohio Valley Conference third-place holder Eastern Illinois, 53-44.
Little Rock was led by
Sug Williams with notched another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Jordan Holman pitched in 13 points and grabbed eight boards.
Jayla Brooks followed with nine points.
It was a defensive battle after the first quarter between the Trojans and Panthers. Little Rock was down 15-6 going into the second quarter, but fought back relentlessly, holding EIU to just six points scored in the quarter.
After the halftime break, the Trojans cut the Panther's lead to just three with 57 seconds left in the third. Holman hit a layup, making the score at 34-31.
In the first eleven seconds of the fourth quarter, EIU's Alex Rouse, a Little Rock native, hit one-of-two free throws to add to the lead.
EIU's Macy McGlone was called for an offensive foul, giving the ball back to the Trojans with 9:22 on the clock.
With 8:54 left, Williams cut the lead to just two, 35-33, with a jumper.
Brooks found herself in foul trouble with 6:34 left, after two back-to-back fouls were called on her, giving her four fouls.
The Trojans were down 10 with 5:23 left to play, but free throws by Holman cut lead to 45-37.
With free throws from Williams and a layup from Holman, the Trojans trimmed the lead 47-41, but EIU's Lalani Ellis immediately made a three, pushing the lead back to nine.
Annemarie Batista hit a bucket with 1:26 left in the game, cutting the lead to 10, 53-43.
The Panthers ultimately pulled away with the win, 53-44.
Eastern Illinois was led by Macy McGlone with 14 points and an impressive 21 rebounds. Lalani Ellis followed with 12 points and five rebounds.
The Panthers sealed the No. 3 seed in the OVC tournament with this win. Little Rock now heads to Edwardsville, Ill., to take on SIU-Edwardsville for the final game of the regular season.
The OVC tournament is scheduled for March 5-8.
