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EASTERN ILLINOIS at Eastern Kentucky
February 25 • 3 p.m. CST
McBrayer Arena (6,500)  • Richmond, Ky. 
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
Ryan Piers, radio play-by-play

GAME 29
The Panther women's basketball program concludes regular-season action at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. CST. EIU is 21-7 (12-3 OVC) and EKU is 12-14 (7-8 OVC).
 
EIU-EKU SERIES
EIU leads the all-time series with EKU, 15-14. Panther head coach Brady Sallee is 12-2 all-time against the Lady Colonels, including a 4-2 mark in games played in Richmond, Ky. EIU has won the last seven meetings between the two teams and have not lost in Richmond since the 2006-07 campaign.
 
PANTHERS FALL AT MOREHEAD STATE
EIU dropped its second consecutive game of the year on Thursday, Feb. 23, falling to Morehead State 59-57. Sydney Mitchell and Mariah King both scored 12 points to pace the Panthers while Chantelle Pressley added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
2012 OVC TOURNAMENT
The Panthers have locked up the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament to be held at Municipal Auditorium on Feb. 29 – March 2 in Nashville, Tenn. EIU earned a double-bye in the tournament and will face the winner of the No. 3 seed vs No. 6/7 seed game on Friday, March 2 at 2 p.m. The official tournament bracket will be available late Saturday night after the conclusion of the day's games.
 
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST EKU
Juniors Sydney Mitchell and Ta'Kenya Nixon combined to score 41 points to lead the Panther women's basketball team to a 64-51 win over Eastern Kentucky on Monday, Feb. 6 in Charleston.
 
Mitchell scored a game-high 23 points to lead EIU while Nixon added 18 points. Nixon also dished out four assists and went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Jordyne Crunk added eight points and senior Chantelle Pressley chipped in seven.
 
NIXON MAKES CASE FOR OVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Junior Ta'Kenya Nixon has arguably been one of the best guards in the OVC this season, ranking first in field-goal percentage (.525), second in assists (4.6 apg) and eighth in scoring offense (15.3 ppg). Her field-goal percentage ranks 26^th overall in the nation and is the third highest percentage of any player listed as a guard.
 
Nixon – the 2009 OVC Defensive Player of the Year – could also win her second defensive player of the year honor this season as she leads the OVC in steals (2.6 spg) while ranking 16^th in rebounds (5.8 rpg).
 
EIU ONE LINERS
• After being out rebounded for only the fourth time this year in a home loss against SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 25, the Panthers responded by pulling down 10 more rebounds (38-28) than Morehead State on Thursday. EIU currently leads the OVC in rebounding margin (+8.9) while ranking 14^th nationally.
 
• EIU has been held under 60 points for three consecutive games for the first time this season. The Panthers are averaging 71.5 points per game, the second highest scoring offense in the OVC.
 
• After only having one player (Ta'Kenya Nixon) score in double figures in back-to-back games against Tennessee Tech and SIU Edwardsville, the Panthers responded by having three players score in double figures on Thursday at Morehead State. EIU nearly missed having five or more players score in double figures for the fourth time this season as both Ta'Kenya Nixon and Kesley Wyss had nine points in the loss.
 
• Junior Ta'Kenya Nixon was held under 10 points for only the fourth time this season at Morehead State. The guard has scored in double figures 72 times in her career.
 
• With the loss at Morehead State, EIU dropped to 14-2 on the year when shooting over 40 percent from the floor. The Panthers hit 42.1 percent (24-for-57) of their shot attempts against the Eagles. EIU also dropped to 3-5 on the year in games decided by 1-5 points.
 
• Sabina Oroszova has 25 blocks on the year, the ninth most in the OVC. She leads all OVC freshmen in blocked shots.
 
• Junior Mariah King ranks eighth in the OVC in rebounds (7.3 rpg) and 12^th in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game. Classmate Kelsey Wyss currently ranks fourth in the OVC in three-point field-goal percentage as she has drained 37.9 percent shot attempts from behind the arc.
 
• EIU leads the OVC in scoring defense (59.3), scoring margin (+12.2), field-goal percentage defense (.365), rebounding margin (+8.9) and blocks (3.5 bpg) while ranking second in scoring offense (71.5 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.434).
 
PRESSLEY ONE OF THE BEST OVC DEFENDERS
Senior Chantelle Pressley is the only player in the OVC to be ranked in the top-10 of all three major defensive categories – blocks, rebounds and steals. The Lexington, Ky., native ranks fifth in blocks, ninth in steals and 10th rebounds.
 
TUROVERS CONTINUE TO BE COSTLY FOR PANTHERS
Turnovers continue to be costly for the Panthers as Morehead State was able to convert 19 EIU turnovers into 24 points on Saturday. Panther opponents have been able to score 20 points off of turnovers on four occasions this season – twice coming in the last four games for EIU as UT Martin netted 28 points off of turnovers on Feb. 11.
 
SALLEE IN OVC GAMES
Under the direction of head coach Brady Sallee, the women's basketball team has posted a 90-55 record in Ohio Valley Conference games. EIU has won 81 percent of its OVC games since the start of the 2007-08 season with a 71-18 record.
 
SALLEE, PANTHERS CAPTURE ANOTHER 20 WIN SEASON
With the win over EKU on Feb. 6, the Panthers captured their third 20-win season in the last four years under head coach Brady Sallee. EIU had only two 20 win seasons since 1982 before the arrival of Sallee in 2004.

KING CLOSING IN ON 1,000 CAREER POINTS
Junior Mariah King is closing in on her 1,000th career point in a Panther uniform as she currently has 950 points. She would become the second member of the junior class to hit the career milestone as teammate Ta'Kenya Nixon became the 20th member of the 1,000-point club earlier this season.
 
NIXON IN THE SINGLE SEASON RECORD BOOK
Junior Ta'Kenya Nixon currently ranks seventh in single-season steals at EIU with 74 steals. The guard also only needs 16 assists to move into the single-season assists chart and six more made free throws to move into the single-season chart in that category.
 
KING, PRESSLEY MOVING INTO SINGLE SEASON CHARTS
Both Mariah King and Chantelle Pressley are close to moving into the top-10 single season record book. King needs 15 more rebounds to move into the single-season rebounds chart while Pressley needs two more blocks to move into the single-season blocks chart.
 
WYSS MOVES IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Junior guard Kelsey Wyss currently has 116 made three pointers throughout her career, the seventh highest total in school history. The Hoagland, Ind., native only needs 10 more to pass Megan Edwards (2006-09) and move into sixth.
 
NXION IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Ta'Kenya Nixon has made 403 free throws in her career, the second most in school history. The Michigan City, Ind., native needs 121 more made free throws to pass Rachel Galligan (2006-09) and become the school's all-time leader.
 
Nixon also has dished out 440 assists in her career so far, the third most in school history. She ranks sixth in career steals with 195.
 
PRESSLEY IN THE CAREER CHARTS
Senior forward Chantelle Pressley has 92 career blocks, the sixth most in school history. The Lexington, Ky., native needs eight more blocks to move into fifth all-time in career blocks and tie Missy Beck who had 100 blocked shots from 1993-96.