Box Score

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CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois pulled away late the contest to post a 66-60 win over the Panther women's basketball team on Monday night at SIU Arena. EIU falls to 3-6 on the year.

With the game tied 48-48 with 6:05 remaining in the game, the Salukis (2-6) went on a 6-0 run to take a 54-48 advantage to regain the lead. EIU got within two (56-54) on a Jordyne Crunk basket with 2:47 left on the clock before the Salukis pulled away by going 2-for-2 from the floor and 5-for-7 from the free throw line in the closing minutes.

EIU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead to start the game before the Salukis responded with an 18-6 run to take their largest lead of the half, 18-10, with 7:05 on the clock. The Panthers battled back to tie the game at 20 on a free throw by Katlyn Payne with two and half minutes remaining before intermission. SIU would take a 23-22 advantage into halftime.

Crunk led the Panther offense with a career-high 23 points, going 9-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the charity stripe. Sabina Oroszova and Payne both added 11 points in the loss.

EIU finished the contest going 21-for-45 from the floor, including a .560 field-goal percentage in the second half (14-for-25). SIU posted a .471 field-goal percentage and went 11-for-16 from the foul line while the Panthers connected on 72.2 percent of their free throws (13-for-18).

SIU grabbed one more rebound (29-28) in the contest than EIU led by Dyana Pierre's game-high 10 rebounds. She also led four Salukis in double figures with 20 points. Sidney Goins and Ariel Haynes both added 12 points for the Salukis while Azia Washington chipped in 11 points, respectively.

SIU also had 10 more points in the paint (30-20) than EIU while adding nine more second-chance points (17-8).

The Panthers return to action at the North Florida Holiday Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 20-21. EIU opens tournament play on Dec. 20 against Georgia Southern before facing Air Force on Dec. 21.