CHARLESTON, Ill. - A Monday night matchup with an Eastern Illinois (5-1) squad on a roll proved to be too much for Western Illinois (3-5, 1-1) women's basketball. The Panthers won the contest 88-55 powered by an impressive shooting display as Eastern Illinois shot over 50 percent from the field on the night.
Eastern Illinois sprinted out to a 16-2 lead in the first five minutes powered by a efficient transition game and five Leatherneck turnovers.
Saule Kontautaite ended the 16-2 run with a deep ball from the corner at the 14-minute mark.
Cold-shooting from the Leathernecks and solid offensive execution from the Panthers forced head coach JD Gravina to take a timeout with 13 minutes remaining before the break, with EIU leading 22-5.
The first half continued to belong to the Panthers as Eastern's shooting would remain on the mark and Western struggled to find good looks at the basket. With 7:53 left in the first stanza, Western trailed 31-15.
Another three from Kontautaite pulled Western within 13, 33-20, at the 5:37 mark in half number one. Eastern answered with two quick three-pointers to extend its lead to 39-22 at the 3:30 mark.
EIU held onto a 43-24 advantage at halftime and ended the first half on 7-2 run.
Valencia Kelly led the Purple & Gold with 10 points in the first half as Western shot 29 percent (9-for-31) while Eastern shot 49 percent (19-for-39) from the floor. Western did hit three three-pointers on nine attempts and outrebound the Panthers, 23-21.
The Leathernecks collected the first four points of the second half and forced EIU to burn a timeout with Western trailing 43-28 with 18:40 left in the game.
The Panthers would regain control and stretched its lead to 60-37 on a Jordyne Crunk three-pointer with just over 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
The deficit reached the 30-point mark on a fast break layup from Kelsey Wyss making it 69-39 with 10:32 left in regulation.
The Leathernecks would cut the EIU lead to 21 after a free throw from Tricia Coates at the 6:04 mark but the Panthers would end the game on a 15-4 run and secure the victory.
Western continues its sharp shooting for the season from long range as it sunk 42 percent  (8-of-19) of its attempts as Kontautaite collected three of the eight.
Kelly led the Leathernecks in scoring with 14 points while Sadie Webb was held to nine points but pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Eastern was paced by 16 points from Wyss to join three other Panthers in double-figures.
Eastern finished with a 51 percent (36-for-70) shooting performance while outrebounding the Leathernecks 45-35.
The Leathernecks will travel to Iowa City for a 7 p.m. clash against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday, Dec. 9.
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