After a blow out win against Eastern Illinois, the Lady Govs basketball team had momentum going into their last home game against the Southern Illinois University Cougars.
A nearly eight minute scoring drought for the Lady Govs was ultimately the deciding point in the contest against the Cougars.
The Lady Govs led at halftime 32-29 but that lead fell apart towards the end of the third period, which the Cougars closed up by one 47-46.
A shooting drought swept over the Lady Govs at the beginning of the fourth period, where they went 0-10 and had five turnovers in less than eight minutes.
The Cougars took advantage of the drought and went on a 22-5 run, building a 12-point lead before Tiasha Gray made a shot for the Govs with five minutes remaining in the game.
The Lady Govs continued to fight to regain the lead but were only able to cut the deficit down to nine points.
The Lady Govs ended the night shooting 41.8 percent, only knocking down 19 of 38 before their drought followed by 4 of 17 in the final moments of the game.
Gray was able to pick up a double digit performance of 20 points during the contest, followed by Tearra Banks with 13 points.
This was not enough compared to the four Cougars that had double digit performances.
The Cougars’ senior guard Shronda Butts matched Gray with a 20 point performance, followed by Donshel Beck with 17 points, Lauren White with 14 points and CoCo Moore barely making the double digit club with 10.
With the Cougars taking advantage of the detrimental drought and the Lady Govs not being able to get their shots to fall, the Cougars came out on top 72-61.
The Lady Govs were not going to let their record on the road get them down. They were hungry for a win against Southeast Missouri.
Tiasha Gray watched her shot bounce away with less than a minute remaining. The game had come down to the wire and it was a last attempt to capture the win.The Redhawks and the Lady Govs went back and forth the entire game with the score tying 18 times and the lead swapping hands a total of 24 times.
After an 8-0 run in the second half by the Lady Govs that gave them a five point lead, the Redhawks answered with their own run going 7-0.
The third period became a shooting contest between the two as they traded buckets. Ultimately the Lady Govs came out on top with the lead going into the fourth period.
Keisha Gregory knocked down a 3-pointer with just over seven minutes to play. From that point on, the game would not be separated by more than a single possession.
The game came down to the wire with the Redhawks’ Erin Bollmann going to the line after being fouled by APSU’s Beth Rates while going for a loose ball hitting both shots.
Despite a last ditch effort, the Lady Govs could not come away with the win, falling to the Redhawks 71-69 leaving them 7-15 overall (5-4 OVC).
The Lady Govs will continue their four game road trip against the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks on Thursday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m.
