LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Ta’Kenya Nixon is not taking long to establish herself with Eastern Illinois’ women’s basketball team.
The freshman recorded an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double, scoring five points in the final three minutes in Eastern Illinois’ 74-70 win over Northern Colorado Saturday in the consolation round of the Preseason WNIT.
Getting their win after two losses in the WNIT, the Panthers trailed most of the game but outscored Northern Colorado 15-2 in the final four minutes and 45 seconds. Three of the four EIU players that scored during the game-ending run were freshmen.
Nixon also finished with seven assists and was 6-of-9 from the field on a night when EIU shot only 34 percent. With the Panthers down by one and one minute remaining, she finished off a baseline drive and also sank the free throw to complete a three-point play. It turned out to be the game’s final field goal.
“When the game was on the line, [Nixon] made some plays to win it,” EIU coach Brady Sallee said. “She pushed it down the floor in transition. In the past, we probably would have drug that out, ran motion, threw about 90 passes, threw it to Rachel [Galligan] and scored. But now, we get [the ball] out and get some numbers. We’re making some pretty good decisions in transition. I thought the last two minutes we made more plays than they did and that was the difference in the game.”
Northern Colorado’s Lauren Oosdyke had a chance to tie the game with nine seconds left but missed both free throws. Sallee did his part to let the redshirt-freshman think about her trip to the line as long as possible. He took both of his remaining timeouts prior to Oosdyke’s first and second free throws.
Mariah King had a big three-point play to begin the game-ending run and sealed the victory with two free throws in the final seconds. She finished with nine points. Maggie Kloak added 10 points, Chantelle Pressley also scored nine and Sydney Mitchell chipped in eight.
Eastern enjoyed a 51-34 rebounding advantage, scoring 25 second-chance points. There were 52 fouls called in the game, leading to a combined 67 free throw attempts. While EIU connected on 24-of-27, the Bears could only make 25-of-40.
Kelsey Wyss made only one basket, but it was a big one. She drained a 3-pointer from the left wing at the 2:13 mark, pulling EIU within one on the scoreboard.
Northern Colorado’s only points during the game-ending run by the Panthers came on a Courtney Stoermer layup with 3:48 remaining. Eastern outscored UNC 10-0 the rest of the game. Stoermer finished with 18 points to lead four Bears in double-figures.
The Panthers went ahead 51-49 when Ashley Thomas made all three free throws after she was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the 11:58 mark. But UNC responded with a 9-1 run. Eastern didn’t score from the field for nearly seven minutes in the second half.
Mitchell connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the final 80 seconds of the first half. Those key baskets helped EIU cut into its halftime deficit. The second triple came on the final possession of the half, making it a 37-32 UNC lead going to the locker room.
The Panthers languished through a 4 ½-minute scoring drought midway through the first half. Northern Colorado took advantage with 9-0 run, turning a five-point deficit into a four-point lead and remained ahead until the 14:35 mark of the second half.
Eastern continues its busy stretch of five games in 10 days Tuesday with a road game at SMU. Tip-off in Dallas is slated for 7 p.m. The Mustangs won the 2009 Conference USA regular-season title but lost to EIU in Charleston last year.
EASTERN ILLINOIS (1-2)
Player FG FT Reb F TP
Nixon 6-9 6-6 11 1 18
Sims 2-9 2-2 4 5 7
Thomas 0-7 4-5 0 4 4
Kloak 3-9 4-4 6 4 10
Pressley 3-9 3-5 5 5 9
Wyss 1-4 0-0 4 4 3
Walker 1-1 0-0 1 2 3
Sturtevant 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kish 1-5 0-0 1 1 3
Mitchell 2-4 2-2 5 1 8
King 3-7 3-3 5 1 9
Team 9
Totals 22-64 24-27 51 28 74
NORTHERN COLORADO (0-3)
Player FG FT Reb F TP
Cooper 1-5 0-0 3 4 3
Stoermer 4-13 8-10 6 3 18
Brown 3-8 3-4 2 2 12
Merritt 1-1 0-0 1 5 2
Cox 5-11 3-5 4 1 14
Timm 1-3 0-0 2 4 2
Oosdyke 3-9 8-13 11 2 14
Strand 1-2 3-8 0 3 5
Team 5
Totals 19-52 25-40 34 24 70
Eastern Illinois 32 42 - 74
Northern Illinois 37 33 - 70
3-point shots: Eastern 6-17 (Sims 1-3, Thomas 0-3, Wyss 1-3, Walker 1-1, Kish 1-4, Mitchell 2-2, King 0-1); Northern Colorado 7-23 (Cooper 1-4, Stoermer 2-4, Brown 3-8, Cox 1-5, Oosydke 0-2). Shooting percentages: Eastern .384; Northern Colorado .365. Assists: Eastern 11 (Nixon 7); Northern Colorado 12 (Steormer 4). Turnovers: Eastern 20; Northern Colorado 13.
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