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CHARLESTON, ILL -- The stars shined bright in the fourth quarter as Eastern Illinois women's basketball overcame foul trouble from multiple starters and survived a Sunday afternoon scare from the Central Michigan Chippewas at Lantz Arena.  With the win, the Panthers improve to 8-2 overall on the season.

Lariah Washington and Morgan Litwiller provided the early offensive spark for the Panthers, combining to score the first 10 points for the team as EIU took the early 10-6 lead.  Washington then found McGlone in the lane for a layup to up the lead to six.  After a CMU bucket cut it back down to four, Miah Monahan made her first three-pointer of the contest to give EIU a 15-8 advantage.  The Chippewas scored five straight to cut the lead to two, but EIU managed to hold onto a 19-14 lead at the end of the quarter. 

Foul trouble then became the story for EIU in the second, as Washington went to the bench after picking up her second foul just six seconds into the period and McGlone sat out the entire quarter after having picked up her second foul with just 33 seconds remaining in the first.  Monahan subsequently hit another three to extend EIU's lead to 22-15, but the Panthers struggled to find their offensive rhythm without Washington and McGlone on the court, as CMU used a 7-1 run over a five minute period to make it a one-point game.  The Panthers finally broke the scoring drought with 4:28 remaining in the period as Julia Bengtson was fouled in the act of shooting a three and made all three free throws to extend the lead to four.  After two Chippewa free throws, Monahan found Ellie Colson in the paint, who converted on a layup for her first points of the season to extend the lead back to four.  After two more CMU free throws, the Panthers would finish the half on an 8-1 run as Litwiller and Bengtson both hit threes and Colson made a second layup off a pass from Bengtson, making it 36-27 at halftime.

"I thought the end of the second quarter was big,"  said head coach Matt Bollant.  "We were only up two, and we ended up ending the half up nine, and so I thought that was a good lift.  [It] gave us a little breathing room."

The third quarter began with a dry spell from both teams that was broken by a CMU second chance bucket 2:40 into the period.  Washington responded with a layup, but would pick up her third foul just a couple of minutes later which would coincide with another shooting drought for the Panthers as the Chippewas used a 16-6 run to take their first lead of the game at 45-44 with her back on the bench.  Hannah Purcell would respond with a layup that would spark a 6-2 EIU spurt to give the Panthers back the lead at 50-47 going into the fourth quarter.  After re-entering the game, Washington would take over in the fourth quarter, hitting EIU's first two made field goals of the period and a couple of free throws to give the Panthers a 57-50 lead.  McGlone then found a driving Haley Cameron who took it to the basket to give EIU a 59-50 lead.  CMU would come back with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to four, but Monahan hit her third three of the game to up the lead back to seven.  Another CMU three would cut it back to four, but the Chippewas would not get any closer, as a 7-0 EIU run highlighted by a converted and-one opportunity by Litwiller gave EIU an 11-point lead and put the game on ice for the Panthers.

Washington scored 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting for her fifth 20-point effort of the season.  She also contributed with six assists.  Monahan scored 15 points, including three three-pointers, and dished out four assists.  Litwiller scored 10 points and had four rebounds and a block, while Lyric Johnson had four rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots in her second consecutive start.  Macy McGlone had a near-double double with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting and 11 rebounds.  Six of her rebounds came in the first quarter.

Off the bench, Julia Bengton scored six points, all coming in a key stretch in the second quarter, and three rebounds.  Purcell had five points while Colson scored four for her first points of the season.  Taris Thornton had three points, all of which came on free throws.

The Panthers amassed 20 assists on 27 made field goals and doubled up CMU in points in the paint, 36-18.  As a team, EIU had six blocks, tying them for the most they've had a game in the Matt Bollant era.

Up next, the Panthers will head to the Twin Cities where they will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday, December 22.  Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM CT.