The Eastern women’s basketball team ended its four-game losing streak Saturday in a dominating win over Jacksonville State, 77-61.

The Panthers came out of the gates quickly, and carried their domination throughout the first half, as they led 32-16 with just more than three minutes left. By the end of the half, they led 38-22.

Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said the Panthers were ready to play from the time the game started. Sallee said the team was playing with a lot of energy.

The Panthers ended the game with four players in double figures, including all four of their starting forwards.

Sophomore forwards Sydney Mitchell and Mariah King, and junior forward Chantelle Pressley combined to score 38 points. King and Pressley scored 10 each, while Mitchell scored 18.

Mitchell said Sallee told her to attack the basket against the Gamecocks, and she did.

“Just the fact that we came out and knocked them back a bit set the tone,” Sallee said.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak, and put Eastern alone in fifth place in the Ohio Valley Conference. Previously, Eastern and Jacksonville State were both 5-5 and in fifth place.

Mitchell said the win feels good after the losing streak because it gives the team more confidence going forward.

Sophomore guard Ta’Kenya Nixon, who scored a team-high 24 points, said to win is a sigh of relief.

“It’s a big sigh of relief as far as we’ve been executing the game plans but still falling short,” Nixon said. “We finally did what we planned to do and won.”

Sallee said the win is a stepping-stone to the rest of the season. At one point, the Panthers led by 25 points. Jacksonville State never led.

“When you go through a four-game stretch like we did, that’s tough on your psyche,” Sallee said. “You have a young basketball team and that’s going to test your mental toughness.”

Sallee said the win gave him a chance to learn a lot about his team.

“The kids have responded extremely well,” Sallee said. “They’ve kept their heads on straight and they understand what we’re going after.”

Nixon said even though the Panthers won, that does not mean that the team is set to go for an OVC title just yet.

“It’s not like everything is fixed,” Nixon said. “We don’t think we are a finished product.”

Sallee said the team made some mistakes throughout the game; however, he said they fought through them.

“A few breakdowns here and there but I’m not after perfection right now,” Sallee said. “We’ve still got some places we need to get better, but I thought we got a game that we desperately needed.”

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

Ta’Kenya Nixon, a sophomore guard, looks for a teammate to pass the ball to during the game against Jacksonville State Saturday afternoon in Lantz Arena. Nixon scored a game-high 24 points in the Panthers 77-61 win over the Gamecocks. (Audrey Sawyer

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