There weren’t any big runs or convincing advantages for one team rebounding. There weren’t many differences to the naked eye. They didn’t win by 30, or even 20. They weren’t the Lakers. They didn’t score 80 points.

But the Eastern’s women’s basketball team did have 36 points in the paint, held the lead for all 40 minutes of the game, totally bought into a defensive gameplan and beat Eastern Kentucky 64-51.

“Everyone wants to see us score 80 and be the Lakers and all this kind of bologna,” Eastern head coach Brady Sallee said. “Well, that was beautiful what we did defensively. The gameplan was followed so, so well. We just gave (Eastern Kentucky) fits.”

Eastern had to adjust to playing a different game than it had played in the past few games. The Panthers had won their previous four games by 19.5 points per game, but Eastern Kentucky stuck with the Panthers and didn’t allow them to break more than a 10-point lead until late in the game.

“I knew coming in this was going to be a war,” Sallee said. “I saw them on film and thought from a length standpoint, strength standpoint and athletically they matched up with us really well.”

The Panthers couldn’t win the way they had the past four games, but junior forward Sydney Mitchell said the team took advantage of what Eastern Kentucky was allowing them to do.

“We were just taking what they were giving us,” Mitchell said. “The inside was weak so we just went to the inside.”

Mitchell was one of the leaders going into the paint, but she didn’t score her 23 points easily. Eastern Kentucky’s big bodies banged the Panthers around in the paint and challenged Eastern’s toughness.

Mitchell said she lost count of how many bruises she had.

“I have 88-year-old knees and bruises. It just doesn’t stop,” Mitchell said.

Sallee said Mitchell stepped up when the Panthers needed her most in the game, coming up with key points and rebounds.

“She was just nails. She was tough and had to be,” Sallee said. “I just thought she had her cape on tonight and came in to save the day many times.”

Junior guard Ta’Kenya Nixon was the other high scorer for the Panthers, ending the night with 18 points.

Sallee said Eastern Kentucky was daring Nixon to be the Panthers’ toughest player on the floor in a scrappy game.

“They picked the wrong (person) because she’s the toughest cat there is,” Sallee said.

Nixon said the team’s overall composure helped the Panthers put the game out of reach at the end. She said the Panthers knew they needed to be tough to win the game, and they were.

“All the calls weren’t going our way and we felt we were getting beat up (in the paint) but wouldn’t stop going (to the paint),” Nixon said.

Mitchell and Nixon admitted some of the calls frustrated the Panthers in the first half, but the Panthers came out with new focus in the second half.

“We handled the adversity very well,” Mitchell said.

Sallee said the Panthers shouldn’t have a problem winning a game like the one Monday – scrappy and tough. He said Eastern should be willing to win games defensively.

“We are one of the top defensive teams in the league, if not the best,” Sallee said. “If we have to win a game that way, well hello, why wouldn’t you want to?”

Whether it’s winning by 13 or winning by 25, Nixon said the Panthers just want the end result.

“We know at the end if you win by one or win by 21, you won,” Nixon said.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7942 or dmcnamee@eiu.edu.