With two seconds left in the game, the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference watched as sophomore forward Chantelle Pressley delivered on two free throws that put Eastern (10-8, 6-1 OVC) over the top for a 62-60 win over Morehead State (13-7, 6-2 OVC).

Pressley got to the free throw line after coming up with what head coach Brady Sallee said was a “big-time” rebound off a missed shot by freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon.

Pressley, a 57.8 percent free throw shooter, said as she walked up to the free throw line, she kept telling herself that she was going to make the two free throws and win the game.

“I wasn’t nervous; I was just confident that I could go up there and knock those shots down because we really needed this win and I was willing to do anything to make these free throws,” Pressley said.

Pressley finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds, also hitting 4-of-4 from the free throw line as she and senior forward Maggie Kloak took advantage of their team’s advantage in the post.

Sallee said the interior was a part of their game plan to exploit.

“It was definitely part of the game plan, which isn’t news for us because we always throw the ball inside,” Sallee said. “I thought our players did a really good job of understanding when and how the ball needs to go inside.”

Kloak was Eastern’s leading scorer, finishing the game with 20 points and eight rebounds. She went to the free throw line 16 times, converting on 10 of her chances.

While the game ended with the difference being two free throws, it was not always so close; in fact, Eastern mounted a 17-4 run to begin the second half, after which it led by 14 points.

However, Morehead State got back into the game by shooting threes, even though it only made 9-of-32 in the game.

“Three-pointers can get a team back in the game, but they can’t necessarily win it,” Kloak said. “They got themselves back into the game a little bit with their threes. If we kept playing our defense and kept getting the ball to the rim, we just thought that we couldn’t be beaten with three-point shots.”

Morehead State took the lead, 57-56, with 1:26 to go in the game, but Sallee said Eastern expected the Eagles to make a run and that the Panthers would not change their game plan.

“Pretty much the entire game we had kept them from going on a run, so I was expecting one to come and we went through it, used a timeout here or there to try and stop it, but we knew they were capable of it,” Sallee said.

After the Eagles hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 60 with 12 seconds left, Eastern got the ball to Nixon, who ran down the floor to put up the shot that eventually led to Pressley’s winning free throws.

Eastern moves into first place in the OVC with the win. The women return home Thursday to play Murray State (8-10, 3-4 OVC) at 5:30 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

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

Freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon goes up for a shot against Southeast Missouri State Jan. 9 in Lantz Arena. The Panthers won 62-60 against Morehead State Saturday to extend their winning streak to five.(Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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