It was the “old Eastern Illinois team” in the second half. It was a half that saw Jessica Huffman score 23 of her team-high 26 points, leading a frenetic pace.

But it was the current Eastern team in the first half that put any notion of a comeback out of reach as the Panthers lost 66-55 at Tennessee-Martin. It was the Panthers sixth straight loss and eighth in their last nine games.

Late in the first half, the game started to get away from the Panthers. After an Ashley Thomas putback off a missed jump shot cut Eastern’s deficit to 24-20, the Skyhawks closed out the final five minutes in a flurry.

Aided by a pair of turnovers and poor perimeter defense, Martin went on a 16-3 run to go up 40-23 at the half. Twelve of the 16 points came on 3-pointers for the Skyhawks. The three-point barrage followed a familiar trend in the first half, as the Skyhawks (9-6, 4-3 Ohio Valley Conference) hit nine of 18, taking advantage of the Panthers’ 2-3 zone defense.

The hot 3-point shooting was a bit of a surprise, especially since Martin came in shooting 30 percent from 3-point range.

“We let them get too comfortable on the perimeter,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. “Once they started knocking down, it became contagious.”

As lackluster as Eastern’s perimeter defense was, the Panthers’ (5-12, 2-6) offense wasn’t fairing much better.

Besides Rachel Galligan’s 11 points, the rest of the Panthers combined for 12 points on four for 15 shooting.

Coming into the game, the Panthers were mostly concerned with the inside combination of Andreika Jackson and Phyllisha Mitchell.

While the Panthers limited Jackson, Mitchell had a strong performance against Eastern, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

But, it was the perimeter play of Victoria Carlile (12 points) and Nicole Holman (nine points) that helped put Eastern in a hole.

“We were pretty slow getting out on their shooters,” Sallee said. “We kind of got caught guarding the high post a little too much, and couldn’t get back in our rotations.”

The Panthers looked dead to start the second half, not getting their first field goal until nearly seven minutes passed.

With the Panthers trailing 49-31, Huffman scored 13 of the next 15 points, helping Eastern cut the lead to 52-46.

“Once she gets in the open floor, she’s just about unstoppable,” Sallee said.

But the rally fizzled, with the Skyhawks closing out the game with free throws and inside baskets.

The Panthers’ frustration showed in the second half with Ellen Canale picking up her fourth technical foul of the season and Sallee joking about finding the tallest building in Martin, Tenn.

“Luckily, the tallest building is about two stories high,” Sallee said, “so, I think I’m safe.”

The same can’t be said for the Panthers.