Panthers drop season opener to Comets
Nov. 1—ELWOOD — If coach Courtney Lickliter had her way, Wednesday's game against Eastern would have been later in the season. With eight freshmen on her opening night roster, as well as a junior playing her first game in three years, a little more experience would have been beneficial.
But that's not the way the schedule shook out.
The flashes of talent were there — including one of the best quarters the program has played in several years — but at times the inexperience showed as Jenna Odle scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Comets held off the Panthers 34-26 in the season opener for both teams.
"I wish we played this game in the middle of the season, but that's not how it goes," Lickliter said. "I told them they can't use that as an excuse. They've got to be ready to play where ever, whenever."
Elwood took care of the ball, committing 13 turnovers while forcing 20 Comet miscues, but in the end, the Panthers could not overcome a 44-33 Eastern rebounding edge or being outscored 16-1 at the free-throw line.
The Comets made 16-of-22 at the stripe while the Panthers attempted only six free throws, making one.
"We have practiced free throws every day. I've worked it into our schedule every day," Lickliter said. "I told the girls we don't have enough time to shoot the number it takes to become a consistent shooter. ... The girls are going to have to find 10 or 15 minutes in their day to get some shots up."
But there were plenty of bright spots and reasons for optimism for Lickliter and the Panthers.
Elwood connected on its first two shots of the season — a baseline jumper from freshman Breelyn Norris and an 18-foot jumper by Raeghan Wisehart for an early 4-2 lead. But the Panthers missed their next six field goal attempts, and Eastern eased out to a 6-4 lead after one period.
The second quarter gave Elwood fans reason to look forward to future games.
The Panthers opened the period with eight straight points — six coming from Norris — and surged to a 12-6 lead before settling for a 13-10 halftime advantage.
During the second quarter, Elwood committed just one turnover and outrebounded the Comets 12-6 after trailing 13-6 on the glass in the first quarter.
"When we took care of the ball and we got it to the right people in the right positions, you saw the results," Lickliter said. "I told the girls they all have to have a scorer's mentality, and they have to see when those openings occur and take advantage and attack, and we did that pretty well tonight."
But the Panthers did not come out of the locker room with the same momentum.
Four Kenzie Appleton points for Eastern — sandwiched around a Perry jumper — pulled the Comets within 15-14 before Kenzie DeGraaff put Eastern up for good at 19-17 late in the third.
It was an eight-point scoring run that extended into the fourth quarter for Eastern before a Darica Dickey 3-point basket and a Kendra Sallee basket in the lane ended the Elwood drought.
However, the damage from the slow start to the second half was already done.
"Halftime happens and we lose a little bit of that momentum," Lickliter said.
After Sallee's bucket, Eastern outscored Elwood 9-4 down the stretch with five points coming at the free-throw line and Odle scoring seven in a row.
Norris finished with a team-high 12 points and added six rebounds and three assists while Dickey scored five points and had six rebounds. Sallee led the Panthers with 11 boards.
Elwood will return to action Tuesday when it hosts Frankfort and has plenty of material to use for improvement over the next week.
"This next game, we lost last year by six and we were 10-for-31 at the free-throw line," Lickliter said. "This is a game they're going to send us to the free throw line, so we have to be able to make them. We have a few more days to prepare and get some shots up."
Contact Rob Hunt at
or 765-640-4886.
