The Eastern women’s basketball team had a chance to win the game on a 3-pointer by guard Ta’Kenya Nixon, but a missed shot followed by a missed tip in by senior forward Mariah King left the Panthers short, losing 63-62.

Nixon hit a 3-pointer to bring the game within one point with 8 seconds left, so the Panthers fouled Eastern Kentucky’s Raechele Gray.

Gray missed two shots at the free throw line, giving the Panthers a chance to win.

Panther head coach Lee Buchanan said they wanted to try to drive the ball to the rim, but Nixon pulled up for a shot “a little early.”

She missed the shot, but King got an offensive rebound and a shot at a layup. Eastern Kentucky’s Jade Barber, who led all players in points with 22, blocked the layup.

“We thought it was a foul,” Buchanan said. “And they blocked the ball out of bounds and we thought there was more time on the clock.”

But the referees went to the replay and determined there wasn’t any time remaining after King attempted the layup with one second left.

The Panthers, though, struggled the whole game by not following the game plan perfectly.

The game plan, Buchanan said, was to drive the ball to the rim. However, the Panthers took 27 3-pointers — and worse, didn’t make them.

“I thought we settled for too many jump shots,” Buchanan said. “(Eastern Kentucky) is a team that fouls a lot. We should’ve never shot 27 3s.”

The Panthers were 6-of-27 from beyond the arch and shot 32 percent from the field for the game, but they were in good shape to win multiple times in the game.

The Panthers were ahead 22-10 half way through the first half, before Eastern Kentucky came back to make it 33-28 at halftime.

The Panthers burst out to a 51-44 lead early in the second half, but again Eastern Kentucky came back.

Buchanan said Eastern Kentucky came out in the second half and started dominating in the post to get an advantage late in the game.

“In the second half they just kept throwing it in there and we didn’t have an answer,” Buchanan said.

The Panthers’ next game will be at 4 p.m. Saturday against Jacksonville State in Lantz Arena.

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