It was bound to happen sometime.

The women’s basketball team earned its first conference win of the season with a 77-73 victory over Morehead State Thursday night.

Eastern (5-13, 1-6) snapped its nine game losing streak at Morehead, Ky. (5-13, 1-6) thanks to the Panthers’ ability to connect from the free-throw line. Eastern went 6-for-6 in the final 36 seconds of the game, and was able to get over the hump that has existed since its last win over Saint Joseph’s College Dec. 16.

“Free throws were the name of the game and we had some players step up and hit key free throws,” head coach Linda Wunder said. “The team bent but did not break. In the last minute we were up seven and held on for our dear lives.”

Overall Eastern shot 43 percent from the field, and a solid 81 percent behind the free-throw line with major contributions by sophomore center Brooke Gossett (5-for-6), freshman center Pam O’Connor (4-for-4) and senior guard Renee Schaul (4-for-5). “That’s what you have to do,” Wunder said of Eastern’s free throw performance. “When you have a lead, which we haven’t had a lot, you have to step up.”

The Panthers dominated their opponents court, controlling the tempo of play holding a seven-point lead with two minutes left on the clock.

“I thought we put together two pretty good halves,” Wunder said. “When it came crunch time, we did what we needed to do.

“We did a good job handling their press down the stretch when Morehead was trying to get back into the game.”

Eastern’s post players experienced foul trouble throughout the game, with senior forward Angie Russell contributing just two minutes of playing time in the second half. Despite starting out the second half with a 10-point lead, Wunder was still able to look to the bench for additional help.

“It felt like the last four to five minutes we had some players step up and hit some key shots,” Wunder said. “Colleen (McShane) struggled most of the game, but hit a big shot when we needed it. Renee and Lauren (Dailey) also hit critical shots.

While McShane started in place of senior guard Portery Scott, who was out with the flu, McShane nailed two long-distance shots and finished the night with seven points. Scott is questionable for Saturday’s game at Eastern Kentucky.

“Portery really wanted to go on the road trip,” Wunder said. “She’s struggling a little bit tonight, but she might be able to help us a little bit Saturday.”

Schaul and Dailey, who are guards, contributed 19 and 13 points respectively while O’Connor had a double-double for the Panthers with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“They did a nice job tonight,” Wunder said. “Our offense did pretty well and our rebounding did what we needed to do.”

Eastern saw solid play from junior guard Michelle Lewis in the second half while freshman guard Tiffany Rudak contributed an additional 13 minutes on the court.

Morehead State saw its point production stemming from guard Kandi Brown, who finished with a game-high 23 points while Jodi Sizemore contributed 21 points.

Eastern will now use its win over Morehead as a momentum boost heading into Saturday’s game at Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels are 5-1 in conference, having the week off to prepare for the Panthers.

“Eastern Kentucky has had all week to get ready for us, but it will be a lot easier for our team to prepare following a win rather than another tough loss,” Wunder said. “I give our kids a lot of credit – they continue to bounce through. Hopefully (Thursday night’s) win will be a big confidence boost that will get us going.

“Eastern Kentucky is a very good team and they will get after us for 40 minutes with defensive pressure.”