The Eastern women’s basketball team overcame a hot start by Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne and pulled away in the second half for a 90-63 victory Saturday at Lantz Arena.

The win was the Panthers’ 13th consecutive at Lantz Arena, tying a team record in the Division I era (since 1983).

The Mastodons got off to a hot start from the floor; connecting on three straight 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes, 16 seconds of the game to jump out to a nine-point lead.

“It felt like they shot 100 percent,” Eastern red-shirt junior guard Dominique Sims said. “They would not miss one shot even if I had my hands in their face.”

But the Panthers ended the first half on a 17-3 run, taking the lead for good on a 3-pointer from senior guard Megan Edwards with 2:39 remaining in the half. The run continued in the second half, as the Mastodons did not score their first points until five minutes into the half with the Panthers leading 57-32.

“We came out on fire there in the second half, and for a little bit I think we were a little unconscious,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. “I’ll take it, and when we’re hitting on all cylinders like that we’ll beat a lot of people.”

Junior forward Maggie Kloak scored seven of the team’s first 12 points in the half to propel the second half run. All of them came from the free throw line.

Kloak finished with 14 points and six rebounds while continuously getting the ball in the post and forcing the IPFW forwards to either give her the layup or send her to the free throw line, where she finished 8-for-10.

“Going against bigger girls you’ve got to be aggressive being smaller,” said Kloak, who was often matched up against Mastodons’ 6-foot-3 junior forward Eva Ivanova. “That’s what I tried to do. I try in every game to be as aggressive as I can, but the calls were going my way and that was great. I tried going up strong, and it worked out for us.”

Kloak’s 14 points were among 43 bench points for the Panthers. Junior guard Ashley Thomas contributed with 11 points, while helping to shut down IPFW’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Jordan Zuppe.

Zuppe finished the game with zero points on 0-for-5 shooting with three turnovers.

“(Thomas) did an incredible job on (Zuppe), who is a really good player, and to hold that kid to zero points is saying something,” Sallee said.

Five players scored in double-figures for the Panthers, led by senior forward Rachel Galligan who finished with 17 points. Sims and senior guard Ellen Canale had 12 points each, while Canale added nine rebounds and five assists, both team highs.

Starting senior forward Lindsey Kluempers left the game early in the first half with an injured pinkie. After the game Sallee said he was unsure of her status but said, “her hand was pointing north and her pinkie was pointing south.”

The Panthers begin a five-game road trip on Friday when they travel to Terre Haute, Ind. to play Indiana State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.