Box Score

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CHARLESTON, Ill.  – Senior Sydney Mitchell scored her 1,000^th career point on Saturday afternoon as the Panther women's basketball team defeated Murray State, 73-59, inside Lantz Arena. EIU improves to 17-8 on the year and 10-2 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
 
After trailing by eight (30-22) at intermission, the Racers (15-9, 7-5 OVC) opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest, 30-33, with 17:59 left on the clock. The Panthers responded by going on a 21-8 run, taking their first double-figure advantage of the contest, 51-41, with 11:34 left to play.
 
The Panthers led by as much as 17 points (71-54) with 1:23 left in the game, sealing their sixth consecutive win and remaining in first place of the OVC's West Division. EIU hit 60 percent of its field-goal attempts in the second half (18-for-30) compared to only 28.6 percent (12-for-42) in the first stanza.
 
Mariah King scored a game-high 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting. The senior forward scored 13 points in the second half, going 6-for-7 from the floor. Ta'Kenya Nixon added 15 points and six assists while Mitchell chipped in 10 points.
 
Taryn Olson also went 5-for-5 from the floor, scoring a career-high 11 points. Kelsey Wyss scored nine points and dished out six assists. Wyss is now two made three pointers away from becoming the school's all-time leader in three pointers.
 
Defensively, the Panthers posted 19 more rebounds than Murray State (51-32), led by Sabina Oroszova's game-high 11 rebounds. King and Mitchell added nine rebounds each while Nixon pulled down eight.
 
Mariah Robinson led two Racer players in double figures with 17 points, going 6-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-10 from behind the arc. Erika Sisk added 14 points and two steals in the loss. Jessica Winfrey led the Racers on the glass with 10 rebounds.
 
Murray State finished the day hitting 37.7 percent of its field-goal attempts (23-for-61) while going 8-for-24 from behind the arc. The Racers also went 5-for-9 from the charity stripe.
 
The Panthers return to action on Monday, Feb. 18 against Austin Peay at 7 p.m.