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Box Score

NASHVILLE, TENN. - Eastern fell to the Belmont Bruins on Saturday afternoon. EIU struggled mightily on the boards due to the size and athleticism of Belmont. Belmont had 53 total rebounds, while EIU only mustered up 24. The Panthers did a great job ripping the ball out of the hands of the opposition, ending with 10 steals, but the Bruins had a better day shooting. Karle Pace was the Panthers leading scorer with 17 points on the day. Lariah Washington was the second leading scorer for the Panthers 8 points. Eastern struggled from the field, shooting 26.7% from the field on the day. EIU falls to 7-6 (1-1 in conference), while Belmont moves to the same record (2-0 in conference).

At the start of the game, rebounding was a major issue for the Panthers. Belmont scored off of several offensive rebounds. Pace nailed her first three-pointer of the game and kept the Panthers involved early. Ellie Harmeyer was a problem, as was expected since she is one of the best players in the conference. Pace swished another three, before the halfway point of the first quarter. Pace had, at this point, every one of EIU's points. Jennifer Nehls scored the next points, but Belmont continued to score even though Eastern had played about as good as possible against the preseason picked champions. Belmont led going into the second quarter 21-13.

Taylor Steele started to put up some points in the second quarter, however the Panthers went on a scoring drought for over five minutes, until Pace scored on Kinney. Pace led the way in scoring for the Panthers, but the rest of the team was struggling to score. Wahl was the only other player on the Panthers to make multiple field goals. The Panthers went into the half down 23-36.

The Panthers continued to play hard against the Bruins in the second half., but the deficit was too much. The bright spot of the Panthers day was the turnover differential. Eastern protected the ball, only giving up 7 turnovers in comparison to Belmont's 20. The Panthers fought back with the reserves, but EIU couldn't come back in the end. The Panthers fell 69-45 to the preseason pick for the conference champions.