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Photo Gallery (
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. –
Sabina Oroszova and
Erica Brown both scored 16 points on Wednesday afternoon as Eastern Illinois beat Northern Illinois, 55-46, at Lantz Arena.
The Panthers had a balanced shooting effort throughout the game hitting 45 percent from the floor as they improved to 2-3 on the year. EIU will return to action on Saturday with a 2 p.m. game at Loyola-Chicago. NIU dropped to 1-3 on the year.
EIU led the game from the start with the only tie coming in the opening two minutes as Brown hit a jumper for EIU and Ally Lehman answered for NIU at the 17:33 mark.
Brown would score six of the Panthers next eight points as they built a 10-2 lead with 14:06 to play. Renee Sladek cut EIU's lead to 12-10 with 10:19 to play in the opening half.
Shakita Cox answered with a 3-pointer for the Panthers as EIU slowly pushed the lead to nine points with 3-pointers by Oroszova and
Phylicia Johnson.
EIU would lead 27-20 at the half as Danny Pulliam hit a basket as time expired. EIU held NIU to just 36 percent shooting in the first half and 35 percent for the game.
Amanda Corral converted a three point play to open the second half for NIU as she finished with a game high 24 points making 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
Arnisha Thomas responded with a 3-pointer for EIU as the Panthers made 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Foul shots by Oroszova pushed EIU's lead to eight points with back-to-back baskets by Brown at 12:56 and 12:36 extending EIU's lead to 37-25. The Panthers would keep the lead near double figures for the remainder of the game with the Huskies closing to within eight points on free throws by Sladek with 8:48 to play.
EIU's biggest lead was 15 points on free throws by
Grace Lennox in the final minutes of the game. The Panthers went to the line 24 times knocking down 17 for a 71 percent clip. Lennox was 7-of-7 from the stripe finishing with nine points.
Oroszova added eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Lehman led NIU with 11 rebounds.