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CHARLESTON, ILL -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball used a strong second half to earn a home victory over the Loyola Chicago Ramblers on Sunday afternoon at Lantz Arena.  With the win, the Panthers have started 4-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.

"Just so proud of our team,"  said head coach Matt Bollant.  "Loyola's a really good team.  They nearly beat Virginia the other day, and they played a great first half.  I thought we responded really well.  We took great shots in the third and fourth quarter.  Obviously, we made shots, but I felt like we guarded well in the second half as well."

Morgan Litwiller drilled a three-pointer to get the scoring started for the Panthers, but the Ramblers responded with a 13-4 run.  The Panthers used a 6-2 spurt to pull within two, but an EIU foul at the buzzer resulted in two made Rambler free throws to make it 17-13 after one quarter of play.  Macy McGlone hit a free throw and then a pull-up jumper to pull the Panthers to within three at 19-16 early in the second period, but a 10-5 Loyola Chicago run made it 29-21 midway through the period.  Hannah Purcell hit back-to-back shots to make it a four-point game, but the Ramblers would again go on a run, increasing their lead to 36-26.  Baskets by McGlone and Lariah Washington in the final two minutes were both immediately matched by the Ramblers at the other end as Loyola Chicago took a 40-30 lead into the break.

McGlone again went to work in the paint to start the second half, scoring six of EIU's first eight points in the period to help the Panthers close the gap to 43-38.  After a Rambler layup pushed the lead back to seven, Julia Bengtson found her shot, hitting a three-pointer to make it 45-41.  After a Loyola free throw, two more back-to-back baskets by McGlone and Washington cut the lead to one.  After another Rambler free throw, McGlone was fouled in the lane and hit two free throws to tie it up at 47-47.  After two more Loyola free throws, Purcell once again made here presence known, hitting a tying layup before Washington turned a miss on the other end into a fast break layup to give EIU a 51-49 lead.  Loyola made back-to-back baskets to retake the lead before an exchange of free throws between the two teams was followed by a Litwiller three-pointer from near mid-court to give EIU a 56-55 lead going into the final period.  The Panthers played dominant defense in the third quarter, holding the Ramblers to just 3-of-15 shooting for the quarter.

Loyola's Maya Chandler hit a three to start the final stanza, but Bengtson hit another three-pointer and followed that up with a layup, giving EIU a lead that they ultimately would not relinquish.  After a three-pointer from Washington made it 66-60, the Ramblers hit another three in response before Taris Thornton, playing in her first game of the season, took over the game offensively, scoring back-to-back layups to make it 70-63.  Loyola cut it back to five before a three-pointer from Purcell followed by a steal-and-layup by Washington gave EIU a 10-point lead.  The Ramblers would fight back, but two more Thornton buckets would keep Loyola at bay, and EIU would hit their free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.

McGlone led all scorers with a career high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with a career high-tying nine rebounds.  

"This past week, I've just been working on my post moves a lot and posting up better,"  said McGlone.  "I think that helped me a lot, because I was doing a better job of getting it in front instead of holding it on my side."

Washington scored 17 points, dished out a career high nine assists, and grabbed seven rebounds.  Litwiller contributed with 11 points and six rebounds, while Purcell set a new career high with nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field.  Thornton scored eight points, all of which came in the fourth quarter, on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.  Julia Bengtson scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, while Monahan again was superb running the point, scoring five points, dishing out six assists, and grabbing four rebounds.  

For Washington, 13 of her 17 points and seven of her nine assists came in the second half.

"I knew I had to get it going in the second half,"  said Washington.  "To just help my team in any way I could."

The Panthers amassed 50 points in the paint and outscored Loyola Chicago 13-6 in fast break points and 19-3 in bench points.  EIU accumulated 21 assists on 32 made shots and shot a season best 57.1% from the field for the game.

Up next, the Panthers will head back on the road to take on the Chicago State Cougars on Tuesday, November 22.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7 PM CT.