Eastern Illinois vs. Illinois Wesleyan
Thursday, Nov. 1
• 6 pm
Charleston, Ill.
• Lantz Arena (5,200)
Live Stats
EXHIBITION PLAY
Eastern Illinois women's basketball will host Illinois Wesleyan on Thursday Nov. 1 at 6 pm for their only exhibition game of the 2018-19 season.
KEY-RETURNERS
Senior guard
Grace Lennox returns for the Panthers for a redshirt season following a season ending injury last year. Lennox is a 2018-19 Preseason All-OVC selection as she averaged 15.4 ppg, 4.9 apg, and 3.9 rpg prior to her injury. Lennox is just five points away from being the 24th player in program history to hit the 1,000 career point milestone and 100 assists away from being the third women's basketball player to record 500 career assists. Another top returner for the Panthers is sophomore guard
Karle Pace. Pace stepped up for EIU in the absence of Lennox last season. She led EIU with 12.5 ppg in conference play and scored a career-best 31 points at Tennessee State. She earned her first Freshman of the Week honors on Jan. 30 following her performance at TSU. She also set a career-high seven assists at SIUE and six rebounds at Belmont.
Jalisha Smith Halle Stull and
Carmen Tellez return for their final season in an EIU uniform, while
Danielle Berry and
Jennifer Nehls begin their junior seasons.
Grace McRae and
Taylor Steele will begin their sophomore seasons, and
Camino Tellez is back for her redshirt freshman year.
NEW FACES
EIU adds five new faces to the 2018-19 rosters.
Abby Wahl,
Kira Arthofer, and
Jordyn Hughes come in as freshman for the Panthers. Wahl averaged 20.2 ppg and 8.9 rpg in her seinor season at Heritage Hills high school. Arthofer averaged 53 percent from the field and was the 5A State leader with 97 steals on the year. Hughes averaged 14.5 ppg and shot 43 percent from three point range in her last season at Warren Township.
Claudia Stan joins EIU as a two year transfer from Vincennes, while
Damonique Miller completes the 2018-19 addition as a 5th year transfer from Memphis.
LAST SEASON RECAP
The Panthers finished last season going 3-26 overall and 2-16 in the OVC. Their first win of the year came against Evansville just before Thanksgiving. The Panthers won 79-52 with five players scoring in double-figures. Berry was two rebounds shy of a double-double with 12 points and eight boards. EIU secured their second win of the season in overtime over Tennessee State. Berry would get the double-double in this match up with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers to a 66-59 win. Steele poured in 19 points while Pace added 18. EIU closed out the season with a 76-72 win over SIUE at home. Five players finished in double-figures while Smith posted a season-best 15 points and 14 rebounds collecting her third career double-double.
