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EASTERN ILLINOIS (0-1) vs. Indiana State (1-0)

Nov. 12, 2013 • 7 p.m.
Lantz Arena • Charleston, Ill.
Radio: Hit Mix 88.9 FM • TV: WEIU
Rich Moser & Ta'Kenya Nixon


GAME 2
Eastern Illinois hosts Indiana State for its home opener on Tuesday night as the Panthers will be facing a second straight team from the Missouri Valley Conference. EIU dropped its season opener on the road to Evansville on Friday night. Indiana State won its opener at home over South Alabama. EIU played well at home last season posting a 12-2 record in Lantz Arena. EIU was 5-1 in non-conference action in Lantz Arena with the lone loss coming against Bradley. EIU did open the 2013 season 0-2 before rebounding to finish with a 20-12 record, regular season OVC Championship and fourth straight post-season appearance.

2013 CHAMPIONS TO BE HONORED
Eastern Illinois will honor the members of its 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Championship team prior to the start of Tuesday's game with Indiana State. EIU will present championship rings to the current members on the team along with the members of its 2013 senior class. The Panthers posted a 12-4 record last year in OVC play to win the regular season title, the program's second in four seasons. EIU beat Missouri in the opening round of the WNIT.

FOUL TROUBLE PLAQUES EIU EARLY AT EVANSVILLE
Eastern Illinois ran into early foul trouble at Evansville on Friday night as both starting post players Taryn Olson and Sabina Oroszova were called for two fouls each prior to the first media time out. Olson and Oroszova would each pick up a third foul in the first half which would limit their action. Olson ended the game playing 22 minutes as she had four fouls. Oroszova fouled out of the game in the second half after playing only 21 minutes. The two players were a factor when they were in the game combining for 16 rebounds including four on the offensive glass by Olson.

UP NEXT
Friday - November 15 at Saint Louis, 7 p.m. (Chaifetz Arena)

LAST TIME OUT
Eastern Illinois dropped its season opener at Evansville on Friday night falling 81-46 to the Purple Aces. EIU led midway through the first half but hit a scoring drought late in the final four minutes to trail 28-21 at the half. EIU was out scored 19-5 in the opening five and half minutes of the second half as they had 30 turnovers resulting in 35 points for Evansville. EIU was led by Jordyne Crunk with 14 points. Sabina Oroszova was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points, 9 rebounds.

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
Indiana State returns a veteran team that posted an 18-13 record last season en route to a post-season tournament appearance in the Women's NIT. The Sycamores return their top two scorers in Anna Munn and Racheal Mahan. The pair combined to average 27.5 points per game last season. In the season opener, ISU beat South Alabama 53-40. Munn scored 16 points in the win while transfer guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir added 11 points.

SERIES INFORMATION
This will be the 56th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Indiana State. The Sycamores own a 32-23 all-time series lead including a 69-39 win over the Panthers in the season opener last year. EIU beat Indiana State in the last match-up between the two schools with EIU winning 75-60 on Dec. 10, 2011. Taryn Olson and Sabina Oroszova both had four points in the season opening loss in Terre Haute last year. Jordyne Crunk had three points.

IN THE PAINT
• Senior Jordyne Crunk scored a team-high 14 points in the opener at Evansville. It was the 16th time in her career that Crunk has scored in double figures. The last time she had double figure scoring in a game was in the 2013 home victory over Evansville when Crunk scored 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor.

• Katlyn Payne knocked down one of the Panthers two 3-pointers in the game. Payne finished the game 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Last season Payne was second on the EIU team with 48 3-pointers made. Payne finished with 11 points as three Panthers had double figures in the loss.

• Alece Shumpert knocked down the other 3-pointer for the Panthers at Evansville making her only long range attempt. Shumpert scored five points off the bench as EIU was out scored in the game 33-6 in bench production. Aaliyah Gaines had the other bench point for EIU making 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

• Sabina Oroszova just missed her third career double-double as she scored ten points and pulled down nine rebounds in the loss at Evansville. Oroszova was plagued by foul trouble the entire game. Eight of her nine rebounds were on the defensive glass as EIU lost the rebounding battle 39-38.

• Eastern Illinois knocked down 20-of-26 shots from the free throw line for a 77 percent clip at Evansville. Last season EIU shot 71.9 percent from the free throw line. The 20 free throws made were the highest total by an EIU squad since Jan. 14 when the Panthers sank 22-of-24 from the line in a win over Tennessee Tech. EIU shot 77 percent or better from the line eleven times last year.

• EIU was limited to only four assists in the opener at Evansville. Jordyne Crunk was the lone player with more than one assist finishing with two. EIU had four games with single digit assists last season with a low of seven assists in the first round WNIT win at Missouri.

• The Panthers played all 12 players on the roster in the opener at Evansville. Jordyne Crunk and Katlyn Payne both played more than 30 minutes with Crunk logging 35 minutes. Kaycee Kallenberger saw action in the final three minutes of the game recording one block.

EASTERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH DEBBIE BLACK
Debbie Black enters his first season as head coach of the Eastern Illinois women's basketball team. Black was hired May 16, 2013 to take over the program following a long career as an assistant coach, most recently at Ohio State. While with the Buckeyes program Black helped coach the team to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances including six Big Ten Conference Championships. Black has been part of 34 consecutive winning basketball seasons both as a player and a coach. She began her playing career at Saint Joseph's University helping the Hawks make four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. After graduation in 1988, she played professionally overseas in Tasmania (1989-96). She played in the WNBA from 1999-2005 earning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year honors. Nicknamed "The Pest" Black is the only women's professional player to record a quadruple double with 10 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 steals in a game.

PANTHERS PICKED 3RD IN OVC WEST
After losing four seniors to graduation, Eastern Illinois was picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division during the preseason poll. UT Martin was the preseason favorite with 22 first place votes. SIU Edwardsville was selected second with EIU, Murray State, Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay rounding out the West Division standings. Tennessee Tech was a narrow selection as the preseason favorite in the East Division with Belmont second and Eastern Kentucky third.

WNBA EXPERIENCE
Eastern Illinois brings a wealth of professional basketball experience to its coaching staff this season. Head coach Debbie Black is a veteran of the WNBA having won the League's Defensive Player of the Year Award and All-Star honors during her seven year career. Assistant coach Sheri Sam is a ten year WNBA veteran finishing her career in 2009. She won two WNBA Championships and was an WBNA All-Star during her career. Associate head coach Kim Foley played professional basketball in Australia where she won WNBL Defensive Player of the Year honors and teamed with Black to help the team win a National Championship. Assistant coach Gwen Burton was an assistant coach in the now-defunct National Women's Basketball League.

OVC GROWS, SPLITS TO DIVISIONS
The Ohio Valley Conference will play its second season with divisions for men's and women's basketball. The Panthers will play in the West Division which includes Austin Peay, Murray State, SIU Edwardsville, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin. The OVC East Division includes Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. The division winners and next remaining top six teams advance to the OVC Tournament in Nashville to end the season. The division winners earn the number one and number seeds in the field, with a bye to the semifinal round.

OVC DIGITAL NETWORK
Basketball fans can watch each Eastern Illinois home game and all OVC road games for free online this year on the OVC Digital Network streaming platform. Fans can view games by visiting - www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com