Powered by junior guard Ta’Kenya Nixon’s 30-point night, including scoring the Panthers’ final eight points, the Eastern women’s basketball team won its final regular season game Saturday in Richmond, Ky. 

Nixon scored the Panthers’ final eight points after the team trailed 72-71 with 1:37 to go in the game. In the final 1:37 of the game, Nixon was the only Panther to take a shot, going 4-of-4 from the free throw line and 2-of-2 from the field.

The game was back and forth until the end as Eastern Kentucky had two chances to make a game tying three-pointer at the end of the game, but missed both shots. 

First, Eastern Kentucky’s Carla Booth missed a three pointer with seconds left, but Eastern Kentucky’s Alex Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and missed her three point shot.

The Panthers fought back from trailing by five points late in the first half and traded the lead seven times in the second half with the Colonels. The lead changed hands a total of 18 times in the game. 

Nixon’s 30 points led all players and tied her career-high, which she set earlier this season against Tennessee-Martin on Feb. 11. 

Junior guard Kelsey Wyss scored a season-high 16 points, while junior forward Mariah King added 18. 

The Panthers scored a lot of points from the free throw line, going 31-of-36 from the stripe, while Eastern Kentucky only attempting 19 free throws. 

The win wrapped up the Panthers’ regular season and now they’ll be headed to Nashville for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Friday.

The Panthers will be receiving two byes from the first two rounds of the tournament and will play their first game Friday in the semifinals of the tournament at 2 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium. 

The Panthers will play one of three teams based on the tournament bracket. The Panthers could play Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee State, or Tennessee Tech.

Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State play each other in the first round, the winner advancing to play Tennessee Tech. The winner of that second round game will play Eastern. 

Tennessee-Martin is the No.1 seed in the tournament and will play the earlier game Friday at noon. 

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