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Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Jordyne Crunk scored a career-high 16 points, going a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe to lead Eastern Illinois over SIU Edwardsville, 73-54, on Thursday night at Lantz Arena.

Crunk becomes the 11th player in EIU history to be perfect from the free-throw line (minimum 10 attempts) in a game and the second in the last week for the Panthers as teammate Ta'Kenya Nixon was 10-for-10 in a win over Jacksonville State on Jan. 29.

The Panthers (11-11) took a 4-3 lead on a free throw by Nixon at the 18:30 minute mark in the first half and never looked back. The Cougars (7-14) could only get within five (22-17) with 7:20 left in the first half before EIU used a 12-6 run to take an 11-point advantage (34-23) heading into the locker room.

EIU kept its double-digit lead throughout the second half, leading by as much as 21 (69-48) with 1:16 left in the game. The Cougars could only get within 15 (60-45) with 7:19 left in the contest before the Panthers closed the game on a 13-9 run to close the game.

Nixon paced the Panthers with her fourth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Michigan City, Ind., native also had four assists.

Sydney Mitchell and Chantelle Pressley both scored eight points and Mitchell pulled down eight rebounds. Sophomore Kelsey Wyss scored six-points and grabbed six rebounds. The Hoagland, Ind., native also dished out a game-high four assists and had three steals.

Hillary Held took advantage of her 15 minutes of action off the bench, scoring six points and blocking three shots.

EIU shot 89 percent from the foul line (23-for-26) and connected on 57 percent of its shots from behind the arc (4-for-7).

Raven Berry and Jazmin Hill scored 15 points each to lead the Cougars. Michaela Herrod grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds while Berry added 11.


The Panthers conclude their four-game home stand against Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4 p.m. EIU will look to complete the season sweep of the Redhawks after picking up a 68-43 win earlier this season in Cape Girardeau, Mo.