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EASTERN ILLINOIS (0-0) at Indiana State (0-0)
November 9 • 6:05 p.m. CST
Hulman Center (10,200) • Terre Haute, Ind. 
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM
Ryan Piers, radio play-by-play

THE OPENING TIP
Under the direction of first-year head coach Lee Buchanan, the Panthers open a New ERA of women's basketball on Friday evening at Indiana State. Buchanan and the Panthers defeated Illinois-Springfield, 83-42, in a preseason tune-up on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Panther women's basketball team returns 11 players from last year's squad that posted a 22-9 (13-3 OVC) record and advanced to their third consecutive postseason tournament. EIU participated in the WNIT for the second time in three years when they faced Texas Tech in the first round of the tournament, falling 85-71 in Lubbock, Texas.
 
Friday's contest marks the season opener for Indiana State under the direction of Teri Moren who begins her third season in Terre Haute. The Sycamores defeated Bellarmine, 51-39, in the squad's lone exhibition game on Nov. 2.
 
Indiana State returns a pair of starters from last year's team as senior guard Taylor Whitley and junior guard Anna Munn highlight the returnees. Redshirt junior Andrea Rademacher and sophomores Travecia Franklin, Racheal Mahan, Jessica Valley and Natasha Zurek are also back this season for the Sycamores. ISU was picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll.
 
THE COACHING MATCHUP
Indiana State's Teri Moren opens the 2012-13 season with a 31-32 overall record in two seasons with the Sycamores. She has a 161-105 record in nine seasons as a head coach, previously serving as the head coach at the University of Indianapolis (2000-07).
 
Lee Buchanan enters his first season as the head coach of the Panther women's basketball program after previously serving five seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at EIU. Buchanan has a 356-216 overall record in 20 years of head coaching, previously coaching at Brescia University (1986-98), Francis Marion (1998-2002) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (2003-07).
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH INDIANA STATE
The Panthers trail the all-time series with Indiana State, 31-23. EIU is looking for its first road win in the series since a 66-64 victory during the 1991-92 season.
 
Last season, the Panthers defeated the Sycamores for the first time since 2000 – defeating Indiana State, 75-60, on Dec. 10 inside Lantz Arena. Ta'Kenya Nixon scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds while classmate Mariah King added 20 points and eight rebounds.
 
PANTHERS WIN EXHIBITION GAME
Redshirt-sophomore Katlyn Payne scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Panther women's basketball team over Illinois-Springfield, 83-42, in a preseason exhibition on Sunday, Nov. 4.
 
Payne also added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals to pace the Panther attack. Senior Kelsey Wyss added 18 points while classmate Mariah King chipped in 17 points. Freshman Alece Shumpert rounded out the scoring with 10 points.
 
The Panthers hit 51.5 percent of their shots from the floor, going 34-for-66. EIU also connected on 50 percent of its shots from behind the arc (10-for-20), led by Payne who went 4-for-7.
 
IT'S A NEW ERA: HEAD COACH LEE BUCHANAN
On May 29, 2012, EIU hired Lee Buchanan to guide the Panther women's basketball program after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant and associate head coach. During his five years on the bench, EIU has had its most successful five-year run since the program began. EIU has made three consecutive postseason tournaments twice playing in the Women's WNIT and once in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). The program has amassed 106 wins with three, 20-win seasons in the last four years. EIU has played in three OVC Tournament Championship games in the past five seasons and won its first regular-season OVC title in 2010.
 
THREE PANTHERS EARN ALL-OVC PRESEASON HONORS
Seniors Mariah King, Ta'Kenya Nixon and Sydney Mitchell were named to the Ohio Valley Conference's Preseason Team as selected by conference head coaches and sports information directors on Oct. 23 at the conference's annual media day. Nixon is a two-time 'OVC Defensive Player of the Year' and a three-time All-OVC First Team selection while King has been named to the All-OVC Second Team twice.
 
EIU PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN WEST DIVISION, RECEIVE FIVE FIRST PLACE VOTES
EIU was picked to finish second in the OVC's West Division and received five, first-place votes behind divisional favorite and defending OVC champions UT Martin who received 19, first-place votes. This season the OVC will split into two divisions with the addition of Belmont to the league.
 
SIU Edwardsville was selected to finish third in the west division followed by Murray State, Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri. Tennessee Tech was tabbed to capture the east division, earning a total of 15, first-place votes. Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish second followed by Belmont, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Jacksonville State.
 
NIXON NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD  CANDIDATE  
Senior Ta'Kenya Nixon was named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award for women's basketball on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The guard is one of 30 players to be selected to the initial award's list.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
 
EIU WOMEN'S HOOPS, A WINNING TRADITION
Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Panthers have three, 20-win seasons while advancing to three postseason tournaments. EIU participated in the WNIT in 2010 and 2012 and the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) in 2011.
 
EIU has posted an overall record of 106-55 during that span with a 72-18 OVC record and a 59-14 record inside Lantz Arena. Furthermore, the Panthers' .658 winning percentage is the third best in the state of Illinois among women's basketball programs (since 2007-08) only behind Illinois State and DePaul.
 
LOOKING TO JOIN THE 1,000 POINT CLUB
In addition to senior Ta'Kenya Nixon who entered the 1,000 point club a year ago, classmates Mariah King, Sydney Mitchell and Kelsey Wyss also look to break the 1,000 point career milestone this season. King enters the year with 987 career points while Mitchell has 801 points and Wyss has 687, respectively.
 
SENIOR CLASS LOOKS TO BECOME WINNINGEST CLASS IN EIU HISTORY
Seniors Mariah King, Sydney Mitchell, Ta'Kenya Nixon and Kelsey Wyss have won 63 games in a Panther uniform. The seniors have a chance becoming the all-time winningest class in school history (Division I era) behind Chantelle Pressley who was apart of 87 victories from 2008-12, needing 24 wins to tie the record.
 
NIXON ON PACE TO SET SCHOOL SCORING RECORD
Senior guard Ta'Kenya Nixon enters the 2012-13 season with 1,442 career points, needing only 450 points to pass Rachel Galligan (2006-09) as the school's all-time leading scorer. The Michigan City, Ind., native has increased her scoring average every season, scoring 14 points per game as a freshman to last year's 16.3 points per game average.
 
NIXON IN THE CAREER RECORD BOOKS
Senior Ta'Kenya Nixon currently ranks seventh in career points (1,442), sixth in career steals (204) and third in career assists (452). She also ranks second in free throws made (431) and third in free throws attempted (540).
 
WYSS IN THE CAREER RECORD BOOKS
Senior Kelsey Wyss currently ranks seventh in career three pointers made with 120, only six shy of passing Megan Edwards (2006-09) for sixth place. She also ranks seventh in three-point field goals attempted (120).
 
PANTHER NEWCOMERS
EIU welcomes two newcomers to the program this season in Danielle Woolfolk and Alece Shumpert. Woolfolk averaged 14 points per game during her senior season while adding four assists and steals per game while Shumpert averaged 14.9 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game.
 
PANTHER NOTES
• EIU is 11-19 all-time in season openers since the start of the Division I era in 1982-83.
 
• Statistically, the Panthers led the OVC in scoring defense (61.4) and rebounding margin (+7.4) last season while ranking second in scoring offense (71.7), scoring margin (+10.4), field-goal percentage (.426) and field-goal percentage defense (.374).
 
• Individually, Ta'Kenya Nixon led the conference in field-goal percentage as she connected on 52.4 percent of her shot attempts – the highest percentage in the nation among players listed as a guard (17^th overall). She also led the conference with 2.7 steals per game while also ranking second in assists (4.5 apg), sixth in scoring (16.3 ppg) and 17^th in rebounding (5.5 rpg).
 
• Other EIU players who ranked in the top-10 of the OVC's final statistics included Mariah King who ranked second in field-goal percentage (.457), Sabina Oroszova who led all freshmen with 25 blocks (8^th overall) and Kelsey Wyss who ranked fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.378).
 
• Freshman Alece Shumpert and junior Jordyne Crunk played together in high school as both players attended Althoff Catholic HS in Belleville, Ill.
 
• Junior Jordyne Crunk is the Panthers top returning reserve player this season after averaging 23.3 minutes per game off the bench a year ago. She averaged 6.7 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game and 1.9 assists per game.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
After traveling to Indiana State on Friday, Nov. 9 to open the season, the Panthers play two games inside Lantz Arena. EIU plays host to Bradley on Monday, Nov. 12 before hosting its annual 'Kid's Day' game on Monday, Nov. 19.