The Eastern women’s basketball team got 79 total minutes out of its four freshmen in Friday’s Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) game against No. 3 Ohio State (3-0).

The team leader in minutes was freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon with 32. Nixon also led the team in assists with five and was the team’s second-leading scorer in the game, scoring 10 points.

Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said he thought Nixon was the most athletic guard on the court Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.

“I thought she belonged out there with those kids,” Sallee said.

Freshman guard Kelsey Wyss led the team in scoring, even after coming off the bench to start the game. Wyss scored 12 points, while adding three assists, three steals and five rebounds.

Sallee said the team was setting good screens to get Wyss open for some shots, and she was knocking them down. Wyss went 4-for-9 from the field, two of which were three pointers.

Freshman forward Sydney Mitchell entered the game off of the bench to play eight minutes. Mitchell scored three points, making one of two three-point tries.

Another freshman forward, Mariah King played 15 Friday. She scored seven points, while tracking down one rebound.

Tale of two halves

Eastern (0-1) fought their way back into the game in the second half after Ohio State went on a 19-0 run that lasted nearly eight minutes.

For the remainder of the first half, the Panthers outscored the Buckeyes 22-13, including a four-minute 11-point unanswered streak.

In the first half, the Panthers shot a better percentage than their opponent. The Buckeyes only shot 38 percent from the field and 23 percent from three-point range. The Panthers were shooting almost 41 percent from the field and 33 percent from beyond the arc.

Everything changed in the second half as Eastern’s shooting percentage advantage flip-flopped with its opponents.

The Buckeyes improved their shooting to 51 percent, while the Panthers dropped to 39 percent.

Eastern never led in the game, while Ohio State’s biggest lead was 25 points with 17 seconds left in the game. The Buckeyes won, 91-68.

Around the OVC

Only two teams came out of the first week of basketball with a winning record. Murray State (2-0), picked sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason polls, won both of its games. Also, Southeast Missouri State (2-0), picked seventh, won both of its games.

Morehead State (0-2) was picked to win the OVC in the preseason polls, but lost its first two games: 67-64 to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and 72-55 to Kentucky.

Tennessee Tech played the next highest ranked opponent in No. 8 Baylor. The Baylor Bears nearly doubled Tech’s score, winning 100-55.

Eastern played the No. 3 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the WNIT, but lost 91-68 and dropped into the consolation bracket. The Panthers play University of Texas-El Paso Friday in Little Rock, Ark at 5 p.m.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.