WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Northern Illinos 48,
Eastern Illinois 38
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 48, EASTERN ILLINOIS 38
DEKALB, Ill. - The Panther women’s basketball team was held to a season-low 38 points on Wednesday night, falling at in-state foe Northern Illinois 48-38 at the Convocation Center. EIU opens Ohio Valley Conference action at Tennessee State on Dec. 29.
After making their first basket on the game’s opening possession, the Panthers (5-6) went 1-for-20 from the floor to fall behind to the Huskies 18-8 with 4:04 on the clock. EIU fought back by concluding the stanza on a 9-4 run on 5-for-9 shooting to get within five (22-17) heading into intermission.
NIU took its largest lead 43-29 with 6:12 left in the game before EIU battled back with a 9-0 run to get within five (43-38) with 1:16 remaining in the contest. The Huskies closed the game by scoring five unanswered points to improve to 4-5 on the year.
Ta’Kenya Nixon paced the Panther offense with 10 points while Jordyne Crunk added nine points and Mariah King chipped in eight. Nixon also dished out a game-high four assists in the loss.
EIU pulled down eight more rebounds than NIU (42-38), led by Nixon’s game-high nine rebounds. Defensively, the senior guard also posted a game-high five steals.
The Panthers ended the game hitting 24.6 percent of their shots (14-for-57) while going 2-for-18 from behind the arc. NIU connected on 38.5 percent (20-for-52) of its field-goal attempts in the contest.
Amanda Corral led NIU with 10 points and eight rebounds. Satavia Taylor added nine points and eight rebounds for the Huskies.
The Panthers return to action on Dec. 29 when they travel to Tennessee State for their Ohio Valley Conference opener. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. from Nashville, Tenn.