EIU Women Fall To Murray State

MURRAY, Ky.  – The Eastern Illinois women’s basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting second half, falling at Murray State, 68-58, on Monday night at the CFSB Center. EIU drops to 11-8 overall and 5-2 in Ohio Valley Conference action.

EIU only hit 17.2 percent of its shot attempts in the second stanza, going 5-for-29 from the floor while only making two field goals in the final 10 minutes of action. Murray State had its largest lead of the game, 64-52, with 5:15 left in the contest before the Panthers went on a 6-2 run to get the game within eight (66-58) with just over two minutes left on the clock.

On the night, the Panthers hit 31.3 percent of their field-goal attempts while the Racers finished the game going 24-for-64 from the floor and 10-for-20 from behind the arc. EIU connected on 42.9 percent of its shots in the first half (15-for-35).

Ta’Kenya Nixon scored a game-high 20 points to pace the Panthers while adding seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Sydney Mitchell posted her second double-double in as many games with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mariah King also added a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Murray State had six more rebounds (50-44) than EIU, dropping the Panthers to 0-6 on the year when being outrebounded. Jessica Winfrey led the Racers with a game-high 18 rebounds.

Tessa Elkins led three Racers in double figures with 17 points, going 6-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Mariah Robinson added 15 points while Winfrey chipped in 10 points for her 12th career double-double.

The Panthers scored 19 second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds while scoring 18 points off of 20 Racer miscues. Murray State also had four more points (24-20) than the Panthers in the paint.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 26 against Southeast Missouri. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. inside Lantz Arena.