The Panthers’ post players looked outmatched in their 82-67 loss to Southern Illinois Saturday.

The Panthers’ (1-5) front line was beaten in almost every stat that is associated with post players. They lost the rebound battle 42 to 28 and the Salukis (3-2) outscored the Panthers in the paint 36-28.

Leading the front line attack for the Salukis was junior center Tiffany Crutcher. She led the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, all defensive rebounds. Crutcher did all this in just 25 minutes.

Junior forward Jodie Heiden came off the bench to punish the Panthers more in the paint. Heiden grabbed eight boards and added 16 points.

Combined, Crutcher and Heiden made 16 of 22 field goals, to help the Salukis make 58.6 percent of their field goals in the game.

“I thought we gave them a lot of easy looks,” Eastern head coach Linda Wunder said.

Seniors Brooke Gossett and Kayla Bloemer, along with junior center Allison Collins, struggled to contain Southern’s post players. They played aggressive defense attempting to create turnovers. However, they only made five steals combined and frequently found themselves out of position.

“We worked on (our post defense) Thursday in practice,” Wunder said. “Our help-side defense wasn’t there at times.”

The only statistical category the Panthers’ post players beat the Salukis in was second chance points. The Panthers scored nine points off second-chance scoring to the Salukis’ six. However, considering Eastern only made 40 percent of its field goals, the team’s second-chance totals could have easily improved.

The Panthers problems in the post are more likely to get worse. They travel to Madison, Wis. Tuesday to play the University of Wisconsin.

The 2002-03 Badgers (1-5) are struggling after last season’s NCAA tournament berth, but also have a pair of tall junior centers. Lello Gebisa measures in a 6-foot-7 and Emily Ashbaugh is 6-foot-5.

The Panthers tallest active member is Janelle Cazy at 6-foot-2, nearly half foot shorter than Gebisa.

The Panthers hope that junior center Pam O’Connor will stabilize the front line when she is expected to return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury later this season.