CHARLESTON, Ill. - Lindenwood women's basketball (6-6, 2-1 OVC) suffered their first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season on Thursday at the hands of Eastern Illinois (6-6, 3-0 OVC) by a final score of 77-65. LU out-scored the Panthers in the second half 40-39, but could not overcome a 13-point halftime deficit.

"It was a tough night for us defensively," said head coach Amy Eagan. "We were not active and disruptive enough. We also cannot turn the ball over 23 times and give up 31 points off turnovers. Those two things did not put us in a position to win against a top team in the OVC."

Mya Skoff scored a team-high 13 points on Thursday after shooting 3-7 from the field including two-three pointers. Skoff also went 5-6 at the foul line. As a team, the Lions went 13-16 at the charity stripe while EIU went 16-19. Skoff also added three rebounds and two assists.

Mykayla Cunningham off the bench was LU's second leading scorer after scoring 11 points which tied a season-high. The sophomore guard shot 5-11 from the floor while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Lindenwood assisted on 12 of their 22 made field-goals including four assists from Ellie Brueggemann.

Five different Lions scored at least eight points against EIU. Newcomers Gracy Wernli and Brooke Coffey both chipped in nine points. Coffey led the team on the glass with seven rebounds. Despite the loss, the Lions out-rebounded EIU 31-30 but loss the offensive rebounding battle 13-11. Macy McGlone had a 28-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Panthers.

Eastern Illinois capitalized on a season-high 23 Lindenwood turnovers which resulted in 31 Panther points. EIU also out-scored the Lions in the paint 34-28. The Lions' bench was able to score 24 points while holding EIU to 15.

Coffey started the first quarter off hot going 2-2 to start the game with an early five points. Brueggemann then added a three as the Lions led 8-4 with just under eight to play in the first. The Panthers were able to go on a 7-0 run to the game, but Gracie Kelsey got a layup to go to put the Lions up 17-15. Both teams shot 50.0% from the field in the first 10 minutes of the game.
 
Eastern Illinois started the second half on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 26-17 with 6:21 left in the half. Coffey was able to get a layup to go with just over six minutes remaining to stop the run. EIU went into the locker room leading 38-25 over Lindenwood after out-scoring the Lions 21-8 in the quarter. LU shot 27.3% from the floor in the second quarter including 0-4 from three. EIU capitalized on 13 first-half turnovers which led to 17 points.

With 7:09 left in the third quarter, Eastern Illinois reached their biggest lead of the night leading by 18-points 46-28. Lindenwood ended the third quarter on a 5-0 run to cut into the lead by a score of 56-44. Cunningham nailed a three as time expired to help the Lions cut into the score. She scored seven of her 11 points in the quarter as LU out-scored the Panthers 19-18.

Lindenwood jumped out to a 9-2 run to open up the fourth quarter. The Lions found themselves down only five points with seven minutes remaining (58-53). Eastern Illinois went on a 9-0 run to push the lead back to 14 points and eventually pulled away from the Lions as they ended the game by a final score of 77-65.

Coming up next for the Lions, Lindenwood will battle SIUE on Saturday, Jan. 4th at 1:00 p.m. CT in Edwardsville, Ill. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.