Eastern head coach Brady Sallee can sleep a little bit easier- at least for tonight. The Panthers opened up the exhibition portion of the season as they blew past Missouri-St. Louis 76-40, forcing the Riverwomen into 30 turnovers and holding them to 28 percent shooting.

Eastern was a little less sloppy as they committed 20 turnovers, 10 in each half.

“Last night when I didn’t sleep, I was laying there thinking this is what we need to do,” Sallee said.

Freshman guard Megan Edwards, who buried two key three-pointers in the second half to expand Eastern’s lead to 20 after UMSL drew to within 14, was happy to get the first game out of the way.

“A lot of nerves are gone,” she said. “We were all nervous before the game, but now it’s over and we realize how well we came out.

“That’s always been one of my key shots,” said Edwards about her three point shooting. “It just happens on our team when we run the offense, we always look to score or take it to the basket, take it in and go all the way, or take it in and kick it out. It gives us options to shoot the ball and score.”

Scoring is something that Eastern had difficulty with early on in both halves, but was able to use a 22-5 run in the first half to open the game up.

Sallee and company used a full-court press for most of the game, which resulted in some easy lay-ups and fast break opportunities, along with many forced turnovers.

“The thing that I told the team at the end of the game was that the other team was worn down and that’s what (this system) is supposed to do,” he said.

Senior guard Megan Sparks had a game-high 14 points in only 26 minutes of action, as she was hampered with foul trouble in the first half and spent the last ten minutes on the bench. Edwards contributed 11 points and dished out 4 assists to lead the team.

Newcomers, like Edwards, junior guard Amanda Maxedon, freshman guards Kara Kramer and Ellen Canale and freshman forward Rachel Galligan, all contributed to the win.

“To their credit, what I recruited is what they brought with them. I liked what I saw out there and I think everybody’s excited about what these new kids are bringing to the table.”

The bench actually out-scored the starting five, 39 to 37. Sallee said he is not sold on one particular lineup, but is more concerned about rewarding players with their practice efforts by inserting them in the starting lineup.

“I think you saw tonight we really didn’t lose a whole lot with our substitutions,” he said.