Eagles is that for the second straight outing an opportunity for a win slipped away down the stretch. The Rosemont Ramblers thrilled their home crowd with eight straight points in the final 1:28 of action to seize a 56-54 PAC win.

The Eagles scuffled through a first half with just 33% shooting and foul trouble on critical players. Mandy Kuiken picked up three quick fouls, and the Ramblers capitalized by forcing the Eagles into 14 first-half turnovers. Still the Eagles, led by 12 first half points from Hannah Tobin and bolstered by a defense that forced the Ramblers into 13 miscues trailed just 28-25 at the break.

Tobin finished the half 6-10 from the field, but no other Eastern player had more than a single field goal. Rosemont's Adriann Demchenko led her side with 10 points at the break.

Out of the intermission, the hosts quickly boosted their advantage to 32-26 on an Andrea Boyle three-pointer. the Eagles then responded with a 6-0  run to tie the game. After a tough jumper from Tobin, fellow sophomore Joelle DeCarlo scored four straight points in the paint on a six foot floater and a lay-up in traffic.

With twelve minutes on the clock, the Ramblers held a two point edge. DeCarlo then hit her only three pointer of the contest to give the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish until the final seconds of the contest. The Eagles built their largest lead of the game at 43-36 on a Kuiken triple with eight and a half minutes to play.

Rosemont continued to hang around and had cut that lead to one with 5:47 to play before Tobin and Reeser scored back to back baskets to put the Eagles up 52-46 with four and a half minutes to play. The Eagles would only score a pair of DeCarlo free throws the rest of the way.

It looked as though 54 points might be enough, but two straight steals and lay-ups in the last minute from the Rosemont press proved to be the difference in the game. Janise Henderson scored the last two baskets of the game for the Ramblers, who move ahead of the Eagles with four wins in PAC play. 

Tobin led the Eagles with 20 points and eleven rebounds. DeCarlo added 12, including ten in the second half. The Eagles, who had been taking care of the ball much better as of late, surrendered 27 turnovers in the loss while picking up just five steals. Andrea Boyle led the Ramblers with 17 points.

The Eagles return to action Monday night in the first game of a double-header at Cabrini. That game is scheduled for 6:00 pm.

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