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CHARLESTON, Ill. - Ta'Kenya Nixon sank a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining as Eastern Illinois (5-5) rallied from nine points down in the final 3:35 to win 63-62 over visiting Illinois-Chicago (4-4).

Trailing 62-53 with 3:35 left to play the Panthers outscored UIC in the final minutes with a 10-0 run. Mariah King and Kelsey Wyss started the run with back-to-back lay-ups on the next two possessions. Chantelle Pressley and Nixon would bring the Panthers to within one point at the 1:04 mark.

The Panthers then had to hold off a close shot by Briana Hinkle that rimmed out but fell out of bounds in favor of the Flames. EIU then forced a turnover to get the ball with 32 seconds remaining. Wyss had a 3-pointer miss but on the ensuing rebound by Katie Hanneman, Nixon stripped the ball and was fouled going to the basket to get the two free throws. She calmly sank both and EIU watched UIC miss two last second shots to hang on for the win. Nixon led the Panthers 19 points.

EIU had built a 35-29 lead at the half and pushed it as high as eight points at the 15:45 mark as Sydney Mitchell hit a jumper to put EIU up 41-33. UIC then turned the offense over to Shameia Green who finished with 32 points including 22 in the second half. Green was 12-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. It was Green's 3-pointer at 3:35 that looked like it was going to send UIC to a second straight win in the series.

UIC shot 42 percent for the game, 43 percent from 3-point range and won the battle on the boards by a 41-31 margin. However UIC committed 25 turnovers compared to only 15 for the Panthers.

Mitchell finished with 15 points and eight rebounds while King added 12 points.

EIU will be off this week for finals and will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 19 with a 1 p.m. game at Tennessee Tech.