Bradley forward Jenny Smith stood at the free throw line with one second left trying to block out the bad luck chants from the Eastern faithful and sank two game-winning free throws.

It was sweet revenge for Bradley, which suffered a one-point loss against the Eastern women’s basketball team last season, but a tough pill to swallow for the Eastern players.

“Some people might say you’d rather lose by 30 (points) than one,” senior guard Ta’Kenya Nixon said. “We’ve been in both positions. They both hurt really bad.”

The Panthers lost by 30 points Friday against Indiana State to open the season, but looked to have their hands on a win against a different Missouri Valley team Monday night after senior forward Mariah King hit two free throws of her own to give Eastern a one-point lead.

Trailing 64-63, the Eastern defense had to come up with a stop to get the ball back. The Panthers’ scrappy defense, which forced 24 turnovers in the game, held strong defensively and caused Bradley to take a forced shot with just over one minute to play and the shot clock expiring.

Then, the Panthers set up an offensive play for King, who had carried the team with 28 points all night, and she was ready for it.

The inlet pass to King was a little long, but King got her outstretched hands on it, took a drop step and was fouled as she went up for a shot.

With 10 seconds left, King sank both shots from the free throw line. She finished with 30 points, matching a career-high.

“I stepped up there with confidence,” King said. “I knew I was going to make them before I even took the shots.”

Bradley got the ball with seven seconds left and called back-to-back timeouts to set up a play to win the game.

After the inbounds pass, a Bradley guard held the ball and Eastern sophomore forward Sabina Oroszova switched onto the ball-handler after a screen.

Bradley’s Smith slipped through the defense and found space to receive a pass from the ball-handler. As Smith went up for the shot, senior guard Kelsey Wyss had to run up behind her and contest it.

Wyss clipped Smith’s hands and forced a missed shot, but the referees called the foul. Smith sank the two free throws to win the game; although Nixon took a desperation half court shot as time expired that fell short.

Nixon said the game plan on the play Smith got the free throw line was to switch on screens if necessary, so Oroszova switched onto the guard.

“You might be on this person or that person, but you have to guard them,” Nixon said. “Basketball is a game of mistakes. I wasn’t in the gap. Somebody didn’t have the backside.”

The bottom line was the rest of the defense didn’t have Oroszova’s back on the play, Nixon said.

“We’ll lost 100 percent of those games,” Nixon said.

Although the loss hurts, Eastern head coach Lee Buchanan said the Panthers could learn a lot from a game like this.

“I’m proud of the players for laying their hearts out there,” Buchanan said. “I feel bad for our players.”

But credit was given where it was due, after all – to Bradley’s clutch free throw shooter, Jenny Smith.

“Their kid hit both free throws,” Buchanan said. “There’s one second left and she hit them both.”

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].