Freshman forward Sydney Mitchell stepped up when head coach Brady Sallee needed her to this weekend, completing two games that marked back-to-back career highs.

Mitchell entered Thursday’s road game at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and played 28 minutes, the most she has played this season.

Her 28 minutes were the fourth most against the Cougars behind freshman guard Ta’Kenya Nixon, senior forward Maggie Kloak and sophomore guard Madeline Kish, who also came off the bench.

Not only did Mitchell accomplish a career-high in minutes, she posted a high mark of 11 points and was the fourth highest team scorer.

Sallee said he went to Mitchell who was playing in place of sophomore forward Chantelle Pressley.

Sallee had decided to have Pressley sit for the remainder of the game after she left it with three minutes into the game with an injury.

Despite Pressley being healthy Saturday on the road against Southeast Missouri, Mitchell still played for 14 minutes.

Against the Redhawks, Mitchell scored 12 points, a new career-high.

She completed the task by shooting 3-of-6 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

For the weekend, Mitchell shot 7-of-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Record-breaking weekend

The Panthers had not won in Cape Girardeau, Mo. against Southeast Missouri during Sallee’s tenure at Eastern.

The Panthers did so Saturday in cruising by the Redhawks with a 71-41 win, similar to Eastern’s dispatching of the Redhawks 67-39 Jan. 9.

Prior to the 5:30 p.m. tip-off, the Panthers were tied with a program record for consecutive wins in Division I with 10 in a row.

In smashing the Cape Girardeau losing streak, Eastern broke its Division I record and increased its win streak to 11 games.

Aside from Division I, the program’s longest win streak is 12 games during the 1980-1981 season when the Panthers were a member of the Gateway Conference and won a program record 25 games.

Around the OVC

While the Panthers secured their two wins this weekend, other OVC teams vied for position in the standings.

Sunday there was only one game, which pitted SIU-E against Miami (Fla.) as the Cougars lost in a 25-point rout.

Saturday saw many games played between OVC foes including an overtime game between Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky.

JSU snuck by with a three-point win.

Other winners from Saturday included Tennessee Martin, which defeated Tennessee State by nine points; Morehead State, which beat Tennessee Tech by 35 points; and Austin Peay, which snuck by with a four-point win over Murray State.

Morehead State’s victory increased its winning streak to five games.

Morehead State and Eastern will collide Thursday in Lantz Arena as the top two teams in the OVC. Both have long winning streaks. The game is slated to begin at 5 p.m. and fans are being asked to help out the team by wearing all white to “White-Out” the stands.

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

Eastern head coach Brady Sallee takes a shot while his players run sprints during practice Monday afternoon in Lantz Arena. The women’s basketball team will try to tie the program’s longest winning streak Thursday.(Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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