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EASTERN ILLINOIS (4-4) at Indiana State (3-4)

Dec. 8, 2010 • 4:30 p.m. (CST)
Hulman Center • Terre Haute, Ind..
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM

GAME 9
Eastern Illinois hits the road for a regional contest with Indiana State on Wednesday night at 4:30 p.m. The Panthers have won three straight including opening the Ohio Valley Conference season with a 2-0 record. EIU is 4-4 on the season looking to get over .500 for the first time this season. Indiana State is 3-4 on the year having lost two straight games at Florida Atlantic and at Butler. The Sycamores are 2-1 at home this season while EIU is 0-2 in true road games this season.

EIU-INDIANA STATE SERIES
This will be the 53rd meeting between Eastern Illinois and Indiana State with the Sycamores holding a 30-22 all-time series advantage. ISU won last year's meeting 65-63 in Charleston and has won eight straight in the series. EIU's last win was on Nov. 29, 2000 a 74-72 win over ISU in overtime at Lantz Arena.

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
Indiana State is off to a 3-4 start to the season having won two of those three games at home in the Hulman Center. The Syacmores opened the year with two wins over Furman and UT Martin before losses to Kansas State and Michigan. Taylor Whitney is leading ISU with 12.3 points per game while Brittany Schoen is averaging 11.6 per game. Schoen has made 22 3-pointers this season hitting 37 percent from beyond the arc.

SALLEE PICKS UP WIN NO. 100
Eastern Illinois head coach Brady Sallee picked up career win No. 100 on Saturday with a 79-58 win over Austin Peay. Sallee who is in his 7th season at EIU became only the second EIU women's basketball coach to win 100 or more games. Barbara Hilke posted a 234-171 career record in 14 years with the Panthers. Sallee's first win with EIU was in his very first game with a 88-52 win over Saint Francis (Ill.). He would win his 50th game in the season opener of the 2009 season with a 82-74 win over Miami of Ohio.

PRESSLEY JUST MISSES DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Junior Chantelle Pressley just missed her second career double-double during Saturday's win over Austin Peay. Pressley scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds including four offensive boards. On the season Pressley is leading the Panthers with 6.5 rebounds per game which ranks 6th in the OVC. Pressley is second on the team with 12.1 points per game which is 11th in the OVC. Earlier this season Pressley collected her first career double-double against UNC Greensboro with 14 rebounds and 15 points.

HELD CONTRIBUTES OFF THE BENCH
Junior college transfer Hillary Held had her best contributions of the season on Saturday against Austin Peay. Held played a season high 14 minutes finishing with nine points, three rebounds and two blocked shots. Held was 4-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-3 from the free throw line. She had previously scored just two points in the loss at Illinois State. She became the fifth EIU player to score seven or more points in a game off the bench this season.

NIXON AMONG NATION'S LEADERS
Despite missing two games due to a strained knee, Ta'Kenya Nixon has landed among the nation's leaders in assists per game entering the second week of December. Nixon has 32 assists in 6 games this season which ranks 36th in the nation at 5.3 assists per game. She is the OVC leader in that category with Reese Bass of Eastern Kentucky second with 31 assists and a 4.4 assist per game average. Nixon is also 42nd in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. For her career Nixon has 198 assists which is 4th among active players in the OVC.

PANTHERS SHARP FROM THE LINE
Eastern Illinois increased its team free throw percentage in a big way on Saturday against Austin Peay as the Panthers finished the game 23-of-25 from the stripe. EIU is currently 82nd in the nation in team free throw percentage at 70.7 which lands at 3rd in the OVC. The 23 makes is tied for the most this season with the Panthers also knocking down 23 free throws against Missouri. The 92 percent made is the best free throw shooting night for EIU since Dec. 29, 2008 when EIU was 22-of-24 against Illinois State for a 91.7 percent clip.

MITCHELL ATTACKS THE GLASS AND SCORES
Sophomore Sydney Mitchell helped carry the Panthers to a two-game sweep of the opening weekend of OVC play. On Saturday she led the Panthers with 16 points hitting 5-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. She was effective on the glass pulling down five rebounds with four of them on the offensive end. Mitchell also passed out a career high five assists. All told Mitchell helped contribute to 24 of the Panthers 79 points (or 30 percent of the total output).

KING IN DOUBLE FIGURES AGAIN
Make it eight straight games for sophomore Mariah King in double figures as she added 12 points in Saturday's win over Austin Peay. King leads the Panthers with 14.8 points per game which ranks 5th in the OVC. She is shooting 50 percent from the field which ranks 6th in the OVC but is first among OVC players with 40 or more made field goals. That field goal percentage is 74th in the NCAA. Last season as a freshman King scored in double figures in just six contests as she played in all 34 games for the Panthers averaging 5.4 points per game while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor.