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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois built a 14-point lead early in the second half only to see it slip away before Chantelle Pressley helped spark a 9-0 run with 5:30 left as the Panthers pulled away for a 81-73 win over Missouri on Sunday afternoon at Lantz Arena.

EIU built a 32-21 lead in the first half despite Missouri shooting a better percentage from the field. Sydney Mitchell had six points as eight different EIU players scored in the opening twenty minutes. The Panthers converted 16 first half Tiger turnovers into 11 points.

EIU extended the lead to 14 points in the second half as Pressley hit a lay-up with 14:17 left in the game to extend the Panthers lead to 45-31. Pressley finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Missouri turned its offensive focus to the low block as center Christine Flores scored on three straight possessions to cut the lead to single digits. Flores was fouled on two other trips inside the paint as she helped trim the EIU lead to 52-50 at the 8:02 mark as Flores hit four free throws. Flores led Missouri with 28 points hitting 11-of-20 from the field.

Kelsey Wyss hit a 3-pointer off an inbound pass from half court to keep the Panthers up for a short time before Flores tied the game with lay-up at 5:47. Missouri's bench was called for a technical foul following the play which allowed EIU to take a one point lead as Jessica Parker his 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

Pressley then took over the game hitting three straight shots before Mariah King ended the run with a jumper in the paint to give EIU a 63-54 lead with 3:51 left. Missouri would never get closer than six points the remainder of the game as Ta'Kenya Nixon scored seven of her 19 points from the free throw line in the last 1:09 of the contest.

Mitchell and King also reached double figures for EIU finishing with 11 points each. Nixon led the Panthers with seven rebounds as they improved to 1-1 on the season. The Panthers will play at Illinois State on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Missouri dropped to 1-1 on the year. RaeShara Brown added 14 points and 11 rebounds while Sydney Crafton added 14 off the bench.