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Box Score  |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, IL - The Panthers lost 67-51 to the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Wednesday afternoon. The Panthers struggled to match their red hot pace in the first quarter, after starting off shooting 61.5%. The Ramblers Janae Gonzales lit it up from beyond the arc; putting the victory out of reach for EIU. Eastern's record falls to 1-2 on the season, while the Ramblers remain undefeated.

The Panthers started off Wednesday's kids day game on fire. Eastern made 8-13 field goals, including 2-3 from three-point range. Going into the second quarter, the Panthers led 19-11 against the Ramblers. Lariah Washington, Karle Pace and Taylor Steele each had five points heading into the second. The Panthers followed the incredible outing with an offensive dud in the second quarter, shooting 25% from the field and letting up the lead. 

Eastern was never able to right the ship after the second quarter, and never quite felt fully there. The offense came mostly from Pace, who scored 17, and Washington, who scored her career high 14 points. Washington also came down with the team-high six rebounds for EIU. Abby Wahl and Steele were never able to get it going against the strong interior defense of the Ramblers. Eastern was able to slow down the MVC standout, Abby O'Connor; holding her to 12 points on the game.

Loyola-Chicago took control through outscoring Eastern's bench 21-7. As a young team, that is something to be expected as a lot of bench players are inexperienced. In addition to the bench differential, the Ramblers made their money off of turnovers. The Panthers and Ramblers had nearly the same amount of turnovers, but the difference was the Ramblers pushed down the floor and was able to score.

Eastern will look to bounce back against UIC on a day trip to Chicago. The Panthers will be taking on the 0-3 UIC Flames at 2 p.m.