EIU Womens Basketball

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WINS 10TH CONSECUTIVE GAME FEB. 4, 2010EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Maggie Kloak scored a season-high 21 points and Ta'Kenya Nixon put together a double-double performance as Eastern Illinois women's basketball won a program-record 10th consecutive game, 74-63, at SIU Edwardsville Thursday evening.The 10-game win streak is the longest single-season run in team history. Previously, the Panthers (15-8) won their final game of the 1982 season an AIAW program and their first nine games of the 1983 campaign as an NCAA Division I program.Kloak was 6-of-9 from the field and 9-of-11 at the free throw line. Nixon finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, her team-leading third double-double of the season. Dominique Sims scored 12 and Sydney Mitchell added a career-high 11 points off the bench.The Panthers were without Ashley Thomas, who was held out of the game to rest a lingering back injury. Starting forward Chantelle Pressley played only the first three minutes of the game before leaving with an apparent leg injury.Eastern shot 57 percent from the field, highlighted by a 65 percent showing in the first half. The Panthers outscored SIUE 20-5 at the free throw line, making 15-of-21 at the charity stripe in the second half.SIU Edwardsville's aggressiveness on the defensive end forced 23 EIU turnovers, 15 coming on steals. However, the Cougars (6-18) were also whistled for 20 fouls in the game. Raven Berry and Ashley Bey, SIUE's top two players, both fouled out long before the stretch run. They were limited to a combined 11 points."[SIUE] plays hard and I'm assuming that's the way [head coach Amanda Levens] wants them to play," EIU head coach Brady Sallee said. "We took advantage of their aggressiveness and beat the tar out of them on the free throw line. That's what you've got to do; when you come on the road, you've got to take what the other team is going to give you. And if they're going to give us free throws, we'll take them."Eastern led wire-to-wire but blew the game open with a 10-2 run to open the second half. The Panthers would enjoy a double-figure advantage until the three-minute mark when SIUE finally pulled within nine. Kloak and Sims both scored four points during the 10-2 surge.Mitchell accounted for all eight of EIU's bench points in the first half. Kloak scored 12 of her 21 in the second half.Eastern led by as many as 14 in the first half after a 3-pointer by Kelsey Wyss at the 11:31 mark. But SIUE got back into the contest with an 8-2 spurt. The Cougars got as close as four down late in the first half but Nixon and Mitchell both connected on short jumpers in the final two minutes before the break.The Panthers conclude their four-game road stretch Saturday at Southeast Missouri State. Tipoff in Cape Girardeau, Mo., is slated for 5:30 p.m.