Freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon scored eight of the game’s final 10 points for the Eastern women’s basketball team as it held on to beat Western Michigan 66-58 Wednesday in Lantz Arena.

“We were so putrid offensively we had to take advantage of our transition points,” Eastern men’s basketball Brady Sallee said. “The only way we could score was on fast breaks or free throws and I wasn’t even sure about that tonight. Some of the times I will put the breaks on (Nixon), but tonight that was the only way we were scoring.”

The Panthers led by as many as 11 in the second half, but the Broncos cut the score to 54-53 with 2:27 remaining after a three pointer by freshman guard Aurielle Anderson.

The Panthers responded with two free throws by sophomore forward Chantelle Pressley and a pair of fast break lay-ups by Nixon to give the Panthers a 60-53 lead with 1:45 left.

“I just wanted to fuel my team,” Nixon said. “I wanted to win that game and knew I had to lead by action. I wanted to show them that we had to play focused and play harder than them for the rest of the game.”

Nixon knocked down four more free throws down the stretch to put the game away for the Panthers.

Early in the second half, the Panthers generated most of their points from the line.

Of their 39 points in the second half, 27 came from the line. The two teams combined for 65 free-throw attempts, as the Panthers went 30-for-47 from the line.

“Our whole objective this game was to attack the rim and get to the free throw line,” senior guard Dominique Sims said. “We were able to do that. We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we could have from the line, but we will work on that.”

The Panthers were 0-for-10 from three-point range, but Sallee said the Panthers got the ball down low and got to the line because that was what the Broncos were giving them.

“If we would have made our free throws that would not have been a game,” Sallee said. “We have beaten some opponents just drilling them from the free throw line this season, I thought we handled adversity a lot better than they did tonight and that was the story of the game.”

Eastern led 27-21 at halftime behind 11 points from Sims.

The Panthers had a 12-0 run early in the game to put them up 18-9 with 7:49 left in the half. Anderson ended the run with a jumper.

The Panthers lost the rebounding battle 47-41, but gave up 16 offensive boards, which led to 23 second-chance points for the Broncos.

“If you know me I am never happy, but something like (the second chance points) is always going to draw my ire,” Sallee said.

Nixon led all players with 20 points and four assists.

“I think the story of the game tonight was we had (Nixon) and they didn’t,” Sallee said.

Sims finished with 15 points, while senior forward Maggie Kloak and Pressley scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Kloak struggled to a 2-of-10 game shooting from the field, but went 8-of-11 from the free throw line.

The game was the first during Sallee’s five-year tenure with the program that the Panthers won a game in which they did not make a three-point field goal.

The Panthers finished 0-of-10 from three-point range.

The only two Panthers to take double-digit attempts from behind the arc were senior guard Ashley Thomas, who finished 0-of-4 and freshman guard Kelsey Wyss, who finished 0-of-2.

Junior guard Taylor Manley led the Broncos with 18 points

The only other Western Michigan player to score in double-figures was junior forward Brenna Bankston.

Bankston finished with 11 points.

The Panthers held the Broncos to just 25.9 percent shooting from the field in the first half.

The Broncos finished the game shooting 29.2 percent, while the Panthers shot 35.3 percent from the field.

Eastern will return to action Saturday as it hosts Indiana State at 4 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

Wednesday’s game was the start of four straight non-conference games for the Panthers.

After the Sycamores, Eastern plays Illinois-Chicago, Indiana State and Miami (Ohio).

They return to Ohio Valley Conference play Jan. 2 when they host Jacksonville State.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or dscusack@eiu.edu.

Eastern freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon prepares to pass the ball during the game against Western Michigan Wednesday in Lantz Arena. Nixon led all scorers with 20 points as the Panthers beat the Broncos 66-58.(Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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