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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ta'Kenya Nixon scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and Dominique Sims posted a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, teaming up to lead Eastern Illinois women's basketball to a 70-57 victory at Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams Thursday evening.
The Panthers (4-3, 1-0 OVC) led wire-to-wire, and by as many as 20 in the second half, en route to posting their eighth straight victory against TSU (2-4, 0-1 OVC). Eastern has won three consecutive games and four straight conference openers dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.
“All in all, it was a heck of a road win,” EIU head coach Brady Sallee said. “This is always a tough place to play. Even though we have beaten them eight times in a row now, this has never been an easy place for us. To get out of here starting the league off with a big win was huge.”
Nixon was 6-of-9 from the field, grabbed seven rebounds and did not commit a turnover. The point guard scored 10 points during a 16-4 second-half run that allowed EIU to put the game away.
Mariah King was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, tying the program's single-game field goal percentage record. She scored eight consecutive Panther points in the first half while both Maggie Kloak and Nixon were on the bench in foul trouble.
Jasmine Smith led TSU with 13 points, connecting on six of her team's 19 field goals. Oby Okafor finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, but was 3-of-11 at the free throw line.
Eastern shot 46 percent from the field and held TSU to 28 percent shooting. The Lady Tigers missed their first seven field goal attempts and 15 of their first 16. The Panthers jumped out to a 10-2 lead during the home team's cold spell.
Eastern led 48-40 with nine minutes remaining in the game when Nixon took over. The freshman proceeded to score 12 of EIU's next 18 points, highlighted by a three-point play and her first collegiate 3-pointer. Sims made two jump shots and Thomas also scored from the field during the game-deciding surge.
With two fouls apiece, Nixon went to the bench with at the 8:38 mark in the first half and Kloak joined her less than a minute later. But Thomas connected on a 3-pointer on EIU's next possession, extending the lead to 19-8.
King scored on four field goals over the next two and a half minutes, outscoring TSU 8-2 during that stretch. Eastern took a 10-point lead to the locker room after the Lady Tigers scored the final five points of the half.
“This team has really been balanced all year,” Sallee said. “If you look at our stats, from top to bottom it has been pretty balanced. And we had to rely on a lot of those people in the first half with Maggie and Ta'Kenya getting in foul trouble. And to Mariah and
Pilar [Walker's] credit, they came in and kept doing what we do. That's really going to help us down the road. Players are going to have to step up and right now a lot of people are willing to.”
Sims' double-double was the second of her career and first since the 2007-08 OVC opener. King is the eighth Panther to tie the single-game field goal percentage record during Sallee's six-year tenure.
Dating back to last season, EIU has now won six consecutive road games in OVC play. That streak will be on the line Saturday at Austin Peay in a rematch of the 2009 OVC Tournament title game won by APSU in double overtime. Tipoff in Clarksville, Tenn., is slated for 5:15 p.m.
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Ben Turner, Asst. SID
