The Eastern women’s basketball team went 2-1 over the Thanksgiving break, fueled by a couple of high-scoring performances.

Junior guard Jordyne Crunk played 25 minutes off the bench in a 21-point home win over San Jose State, for the team’s first win this season.

Crunk scored a team-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including three three-pointers.

Four of five starters in the game reached double figures in scoring, led by Mariah King who aided her 4-of-13 shooting performance from the field by making 6-of-10 shots from the free throw line.

Sophomore forward Sabina Oroszova was the only starter not to reach double figures, but she performed well by scoring nine points and grabbing seven rebounds.

In the Panthers’ next game, a 16-point win over Buffalo, senior guard Ta’Kenya Nixon led the Panthers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes.

Mitchell coming on

Senior forward Sydney Mitchell has come on in recent games, scoring nine and seven points, respectively, in her last two games out.

Mitchell, who has started the season in an unfamiliar role — coming off the bench — is trying to get into game shape after nursing an injury most of the summer.

Mitchell only scored three points in the first three games on 1-of-15 shooting, but emerged against Buffalo and scored seven points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Against No. 25 Dayton, Mitchell scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

“This might have been Sydney’s best game,” Eastern head coach Lee Buchanan said.

So far, it has been, but Mitchell is a ways away from the 11 points she averaged per game, last season.

Dayton beats Eastern, moves up in polls

The Dayton Flyers came into the game against Eastern on Sunday ranked No. 25 in the nation.

After its convincing 63-point win, the Flyers have moved up to No. 23 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll and to No. 22 in the USA Today Top 25 poll.

The Flyers are sixth in the nation in scoring, averaging 84.7 points per game, but have scored more points than almost any team — 508 in six games.

The Flyers are 6-0 this season and play Wright State (2-2) next.

Conference scoring leaders

The usual pair, Tennessee-Martin’s Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome, is first and third in the scoring ranks early this season.

Butler leads the Ohio Valley Conference with 21.8 points per game, while Newsome scores 19.7 points per game.

Eastern senior forward Mariah King is sixth in the conference, averaging 13.6 points per game.

The Panthers’ next game is at 7 p.m. Thursday against Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis in Lantz Arena.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.