CHARLESTON, Ill. – Four starters scored in double figures for Eastern Illinois women's basketball, but it was an excellent defensive effort that highlighted a 67-39 victory against Southeast Missouri State in Ohio Valley Conference action Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.

The Redhawks' 39 points represent the fewest EIU has ever surrendered to a Division I opponent.

Maggie Kloak led the Panthers (8-8, 4-1 OVC) with 16 points, nine rebounds and a career-high five assists. Chantelle Pressley added a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds. Ta'Kenya Nixon and Dominique Sims both chipped in 11. The EIU starters accounted for 53 of the 67 points.

Shelah Fields scored 18 of SEMO's 39 points, connecting on four of her team's five 3-pointers. Two of the five Redhawk starters did not score. Southeast (5-9, 2-3 OVC) was without injured starters Jasmine Davis and Lauren Sharpe.

However, EIU's third consecutive victory did not come without a price. Pilar Walker went down with an apparent knee injury in the second half and did not return. She will be reevaluated next week but is expected to be sidelined.

Eastern won the rebounding battle, 52-31. It was EIU's third 50-plus rebound effort this season. The Panthers also outscored SEMO 20-2 at the free throw line. The Redhawks only went the charity stripe twice in the contest and not until the 18:47 mark of the second half.

 

“We really let our offense feed off our defense,” EIU head coach Brady Sallee said. “That's how I want this team to play. We just did it by going down and refusing to let them get an easy look. Then we controlled the boards. Anytime you can defend and dominate the boards the way we did tonight, you're going to win those games. I think as a team, we're starting to understand what our team defense is supposed to look like. And we're playing to those strengths.”

 

“That's a big thing for us; we pride ourselves in our defense,” Kloak said. “We've been working very, very hard at our defense. Tonight we came out and defended extremely well. We played team defense and stopped their drives. That was a good team effort.”

 

Eastern led wire-to-wire after Pressley connected on a pair of free throws on her team's first possession. The sophomore went on to score six of EIU's first 18 points. Kloak and Pressley teamed up to account for 17 of the Panthers' 28 first-half points.

 

Eastern took a double-figure lead for good with a 9-0 spurt early in the game. Meanwhile, SEMO scored only two points in the first six and half minutes of the contest. The Panthers led by double figures the rest of the game. The Redhawks did cut a 16-point deficit to 11 at the 1:45 mark of the first half, but Kloak scored the only points the remainder of the half for either team.

 

Eastern used another 9-0 surge to stretch its lead to 20 with 13 minutes remaining in the game. SEMO suffered through a five-minute field goal drought as the Panthers blew the game open. Kloak accounted for seven of the nine points, punctuated by a three-point play. Sims came up with a steal and took the ball the length of the floor. She was unable to finish the fast break, but Kelsey Wyss rebounded and fed the ball to Kloak for a layup and one.

 

Sims later connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, EIU's first points from behind the arc. Mariah King scored all five of her points in the game on three consecutive possessions in just over a minute's time.

 

Having also won last year's meeting in Charleston, the Panthers have now posted consecutive victories against SEMO for the first time since sweeping the season series in 1996-97 – EIU's first campaign as an OVC member. The two teams are slated to rematch Feb. 6 in Cape Girardeau.

Eastern returns to action Thursday for a 4:30 p.m. game at Eastern Kentucky.

More Info: Conact Ben Turner, Asst. SID