EIU Women Defeat Oakland, 86-30

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Panther women’s basketball team concluded non-conference action Tuesday night, defeating Oakland City University, 86-30. EIU improves to 16-8 on the year.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 28-4 lead through the game’s first 10 minutes and never looked back as they took a 43-15 advantage into intermission. EIU led by 57 points three times in the second half as the Panthers would go on to win their fifth consecutive game and improve to 9-1 inside Lantz Arena this season.

Ta’Kenya Nixon led 11 EIU players who scored in the contest with a game-high 19 points, going 8-for-10 from the floor. The senior guard also added six steals, four assists and two rebounds.

Katlyn Payne and Sydney Mitchell both added 12 points on the night while Jordyne Crunk chipped in nine. On the night, the Panthers recorded a total of 21 assists.

Defensively, the Panthers posted 35 more rebounds (65-30) than Oakland City. Mitchell led EIU with 12 rebounds while Morgan Palombizio grabbed 10 rebounds.

EIU hit 43.8 percent of its field-goal attempts (32-for-73) and went 16-for-20 from the foul line. The Panthers scored 17 second-chance points and scored 32 points off of 19 Lady Oak miscues.

Rachel Moore led the Lady Oaks with six points and seven rebounds while Julie Hogg and Lenzie Kerchief both added five points. Oakland City went 9-for-61 from the floor and 4-for-28 from behind the arc. The Lady Oaks also went 8-for-10 from the foul line.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 16 against Murray State at 4 p.m. Saturday’s contest features the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the Ohio Valley Conference’s West Division standings.