Jordyne Crunk and Katlyn Payne led the Panthers to a 53-48 win over Southeast Missouri Saturday in Lantz Arena.

With 26 seconds left Payne received a pass from Crunk in the corner and hit her second of two made threes in the game, icing the game for the Panthers.

Payne led the Panthers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, while Crunk had 14 points and eight assists.

The Panthers shot 46.2 percent in the second half, which included 50 percent from the 3-point line.

For most of the second half, the Redhawks had a lead until the 12:44 mark, when Crunk made a layup.

The Redhawks would regain the lead at the 11:19 mark, with a jumper by Jordan Hunter.

Hunter had nine points in the game on 4-of-10 shooting.

After the Redhawks had a five-point lead with 10 minutes remaining, the Panthers would go on a 14-5 run in about seven minutes to go ahead by four points, capped of by a pair of Sabina Oroszova free throws.

In the first half, the Panthers and Redhawks had an extremely tough time scoring the basketball.

At the second media timeout with about 12 minutes remaining, the Redhawks were leading the Panthers 5-2.

Both teams shot a combined 3-of-22 from the field, with Eastern only shooting 1-of-12.

Payne said it was frustrating because of the slow start for the Panthers.

“It was an ugly game,” she said. “It was about time we buckled down and really won one of those ugly games that we’ve lost in the beginning of the season.”

With about 10 minutes left in the half, the Redhawks took a 10-4 lead on a made shot from Patricia Mack.

After that the Panthers would go on a 15-6 run to close out the half, but Eastern coach Debbie Black said the Panthers probably had their best defensive effort of the season.

“We played for 40 minutes,” Black said. “Usually when the ball doesn’t go in the basket for us, we stop playing and today might define us for the rest of the season. If we can play defense like that for the rest of the season you will always have a chance to win the game.”

The Panthers held the Redhawks to only 21 made field goals on 59 shots and also held them to just 21 percent from the 3-point line (4-of-21).

Eastern is currently in the eighth and final playoff spot for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and have a one-game lead on Morehead State.

With only five conference games left, Black said the Panthers need to get every win from here on out.

“It’s one game at a time, we need to get every win,” she said. “We can’t take a possession off and we can’t take a practice off. We dug ourselves a hole and we have to grind because if we lose this tonight we might not have a chance.”

The Panthers improved to 10-12 on the season and 5-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference and will travel to Murray State on Saturday for the first of three straight road games.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or rjreynolds@eiu.edu