EIU Game Notes  |  Listen Live  |  Live Stats  |  Watch Live

EASTERN ILLINOIS at Bradley

Nov. 15, 2011  •  7 p.m. 
Renaissance Coliseum (4,200)  •  Peoria, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
Ryan Piers, radio play-by-play

GAME TWO
The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team hits the road for a midweek contest at Bradley on Tuesday evening. EIU is 1-0 after a 93-32 season-opening victory over Oakland City last Friday while Bradley is also 1-0 after defeating Northern Colorado, 59-49, last Saturday night.
 
AGAINST BRADLEY
EIU is 16-14 all-time against in-state foe Bradley, including a 4-8 mark in games played in Peoria since the start of the Division I era. Panther head coach Brady Sallee is 1-3 all-time against the Braves with his lone win coming during the 2006-07 season, a 98-75 home victory. Sallee is looking for his first win in Peoria on Tuesday evening as he holds a 0-2 road record in the head-to-head series.
 
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST BRADLEY
The Panthers dropped a 77-72 home contest with Bradley last season on Nov. 22. Four Panthers scored in double figures in the loss, led by then-sophomore Mariah King who posted 16 points. Kelsey Wyss scored 15 points while Chantelle Pressley and Sydney Mitchell had 14 and 10 points, respectively.
 
FASTBREAK POINTS
- EIU improved to 11-19 in season openers (Division I era) with the win over Oakland City University last Friday night. Panther head coach Brady Sallee moved to 6-2 in home openers and 4-4 in season openers. The victory was also EIU's first season-opening win since defeating Miami (Ohio) to start the 2008-09 campaign.
 
- The Panthers 61-point victory was the largest margin of victory for an EIU women's basketball team since a 110-28 win over Brescia on Nov. 29, 2009. The last time EIU also scored over 90 points in a single game was in the win over Brescia.
 
- Both Sabina Oroszova and Chantelle Pressley recorded double-doubles in the win over Oakland City as Oroszova scored had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Pressley posted 14 points and 10 rebounds. The last time EIU had two players post a double-double was when Maggie Kloak and Dominique Sims did it against Tennessee Tech on Dec. 6, 2007.
 
- All 12 players that saw action against Oakland City grabbed a rebound while nine players scored at least four points. Five different players scored in double figures, paced by Jordyne Crunk and Kelsey Wyss who both netted 15 points.
 
- Ta'Kenya Nixon scored in double figures against Oakland City with 12 points. The junior guard now has scored in double figures 49 times throughout her career.
 
NIXON CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS
Junior guard Ta'Kenya Nixon is closing in on her 1,000^th point in a Panther uniform as she has netted 948 points through two seasons. She scored 475 points during her freshman year and 461 points a year ago.
 
NXION IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Ta'Kenya Nixon has made 297 free throws in her career, the seventh most in school history. The Michigan City, Ind., native only needs 15 more made free throws to pass Barb Perkes (1987-90) and move up to sixth all-time.
 
Nixon also has dished out 316 assists in her career so far, only needing 41 more assists to move in the top-10 career assists chart.
 
PRESSLEY IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Senior forward Chantelle Pressley has 59 career blocks, tied for eighth all-time in school history with Katie Meyers (2003-04). The Lexington, Ky., native needs only 11 more blocks to move into seventh all-time in career blocks and pass former teammate Maggie Kloak who blocked 69 shots from 2007-10.
 
WYSS MOVING INTO THE CAREER CHARTS
Junior guard Kelsey Wyss currently has 83 made three pointers throughout her career, only needing 14 more to move into the all-time top-10 chart. Nicky Polka (1992-95) currently ranks 10^th all-time with 96. 

PANTHERS PICKED THIRD IN OVC PRESEASON POLL
The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team was picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll as selected by conference head coaches and sports information directors at the annual basketball media day held in Nashville, Tenn.
 
Tennessee Tech was picked to win the OVC, collecting 13 first-place votes. UT Martin, the defending OVC Tournament Champions, was tabbed to finish second with nine first-place votes followed by Eastern Illinois in third.
 
Austin Peay was fourth in the preseason poll followed by Morehead State, Murray State and Tennessee State. SIU Edwardsville was selected to finish eighth while Jacksonville State, Eastern Kentucky and Southeast Missouri rounded out the final three spots in the poll.
 
KING, NIXON EARN PRESEASON ALL-OVC HONORS
Two EIU players in Ta'Kenya Nixon and Mariah King were named to the Preseason All-OVC Team. Both players earned all-conference accolades last season as Nixon was a first-team selection while King earned second-team honors, respectively.
 
Nixon paced the Panthers last season in points per game (15.9), assists per game (5.0) and steals per game (1.7) while pulling down 6.5 rebounds per game, the second-most on the team. The Michigan City, Ind., native enters the 2011-12 season with 936 career points, only 64 points shy of becoming the 20th member of the 1,000 point club.
 
King was second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game while collecting 5.0 rebounds per game.
 
KING, NIXON NAMED TO OVC PRESEASON TEAM BY COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS
Eastern Illinois women's basketball players Mariah King and Ta'Kenya Nixon were both selected to the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Second Team by College Sports Madness. Both players earned all-conference accolades last season as Nixon was a first-team selection while King earned second-team honors.
 
PANTHERS RECEIVE POINTS IN COLLEGEINSIDER MID-MAJOR POLL
EIU women's basketball received three votes in the first release of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll. Three Ohio Valley Conference teams picked up votes in the poll.
 
Three EIU opponents received votes in the poll, including two OVC opponents. Tennessee Tech, the OVC's preseason team to win the conference, was ranked 17^th in poll while UT Martin earned six votes. In-state rival Illinois State was ranked 23^rd in the poll.
 
Another 2011-12 Panther opponent, Xavier, earned 41 votes in the recently released USA TODAY/ESPN Division I Top-25 Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing the 2010-11 season with a 29-3 record.