JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Maggie Kloak led the way with 18 points and Eastern Illinois women's basketball never trailed, winning at Jacksonville State, 60-43, Saturday afternoon to tie the school record with its ninth consecutive victory.

The Panthers (14-8, 10-1 OVC) closed out the month of January with a flawless 9-0 record, their first undefeated month since going 5-0 in December 2007. Eastern has also won seven straight games against JSU (6-15, 3-8 OVC).

The quickly-played contest took only 90 minutes, featuring just a combined 19 fouls. Neither team reached the bonus at the free throw line. The Panthers were a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe, both totals representing season lows. It was the first time EIU attempted less than 10 free throws since going 8-of-8 at the line in a November 2008 loss at Cincinnati. JSU was 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.

“It was a little bit of a ho-hum win I guess if there is such a thing,” EIU head coach Brady Sallee said. “Winning by 17, I'm never going to apologize for that. But I'm trying to get these kids to understand it's not always about wins and losses; you're playing to a certain standard, you're playing to an identity. I don't know if we played to that completely tonight. I thought we were shooting a lot of jump shots. I don't think we got it into the post like I would have liked us to and we didn't get it to the rim as much as we could have. And it's evidenced by the six free throws that we shot. All in all, this is a tough road trip (Tennessee Tech-Jax State) so we're happy with the result, but understand that we're a lot better team than how we played tonight.”

Kloak was 9-of-12 from the field and also collected eight rebounds. Dominique Sims and Chantelle Pressley both finished with nine points and Ta'Kenya Nixon chipped in eight. All three players also registered six rebounds and five assists.

 

Both teams committed 20 turnovers but EIU enjoyed a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers. Eastern also tallied 19 assists on its 24 field goals. The Panthers shot 43 percent from the field and had five different players connect on a 3-pointer, making six as a team. That represents the most 3s EIU has made during its current win streak.

 

Jacksonville State was led by Paris Hollingsworth with 14 points off the bench. The Gamecocks had a 22-10 edge in bench scoring. Jax State was without leading scorer Brittany Wiley, who suffered a knee injury Thursday evening in a loss to Southeast Missouri State.

 

Eastern took control of the game early, racing out to a 13-4 lead as JSU connected on only one field goal in the first five minutes and 45 seconds of the contest. The Panthers blew the game open later in the first half with a 14-2 run. Maggie Kloak scored six points during the surge and Ashley Thomas and Kesley Wyss both connected on 3-pointers.

 

Eastern outscored the Gamecocks 16-9 in the first eight and half minutes of the second half to stretch its lead to 21. Kloak and Nixon accounted for 12 of those 16 points.

 

Jacksonville State had to score five points in the final minute to avoid being held below 40. Even so, the 43 points represent the fewest EIU has allowed in a road game this season. The Panthers have won their two games against JSU this season by a combined 54 points. The current nine-game win streak began with an 85-48 victory versus the Gamecocks on Jan. 2 in Charleston.

 

Eastern will enter the month of February alone atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Saturday's key Morehead State-Austin Peay game in Clarksville, Tenn., was postponed until Sunday due to inclement weather. Morehead and APSU are in second and third place in the standings, respectively.

The Panthers continue their four-game road stretch Thursday when they play their final nonconference game at SIU Edwardsville. Tipoff in Metro St. Louis is slated for 7 p.m.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID