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CHARLESTON, ILL -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball survived a stiff challenge from the Lindenwood Lions to improve to 9-3 overall and earn a 1-0 start in Ohio Valley Conference play.  The 75-62 win marks the fifth season in a row where the Panthers have won their conference opener.

It was a 6-6 tie early on before a 5-0 Lions run gave Lindenwood an 11-6 first quarter lead.  Down 14-10 with two minutes to go in the opening period, buckets by Taris Thornton and Lariah Washington tied the game at 14 going into the second quarter.  Miah Monahan scored the first bucket of the period to give EIU a 16-14 lead that was immediately matched by another Lindenwood three.  EIU responded with a 6-0 run to give them a 22-17 lead.  After Lindenwood pulled back to within a point, Litwiller drilled a three to give EIU a 27-23 lead.  At the end of the half, Litwiller hit another three and Washington hit a jumper as the clock expired to give EIU a 34-27 halftime lead.

Washington picked right up where she left off in the third period, scoring the first points of the quarter to up EIU's lead to 36-27.  The two teams then proceeded to trade baskets before a 9-3 Panther run gave EIU a 47-32 lead.  Lindenwood continued to keep themselves in the game with the three-point shot, as back-to-back triple from Emily Benzschawel cut the EIU lead to nine.  Thornton responded with a three of her own which was quickly followed by a Julia Bengtson steal and score to up the lead back to 14.  The Lions used two more threes, both from Mary McGrath, to end the third quarter on a 6-2 run to make it 54-44 going into the final period.  Macy McGlone got the scoring started in the fourth for the Panthers, hitting a layup in the paint off a pass from Lyric Johnson to make it 56-44.  After Benzschawel responded with a layup on the other end, Washington converted on an and-one opportunity and McGlone hit on another layup to make it 61-46.  The Panthers kept the Lions at arms' length the rest of the way, winning by 13.

Washington led the way for EIU with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, her 10th double-digit effort in 12 games this season.  She has now surpassed Melanie Hatfield for 10th on EIU's all-time scorers list.  Macy McGlone scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds, her 10th game this season with at least five rebounds.  Litwiller scored a season-high 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range to go along with six rebounds of her own.  Thornton scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Johnson contributed with four points, six rebounds, and three assists. 

"[Lariah] hit a three in that fourth quarter and kind of scored when we needed her to,"  said head coach Matt Bollant.  "She was patient and took her time making plays.  Good to see Macy step up, good to see Morgan step up.  To have four in double figures is great, with Taris scoring 11."

Monahan had four points on 2-of-3 shooting and four assists while Hannah Purcell came off the bench to also score four points on 2-of-3 shooting.  Jackie Maulucci came into the game in the fourth quarter and drained two threes.

EIU doubled up Lindenwood 40-20 in points in the paint and tripled up the Lions 24-8 in bench points.  The Panthers shot 51.8% from the field and accumulated 19 assists on 30 made shots from the field.

Up next, the Panthers will host another OVC newcomer in the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles in a New Year's Eve showdown at 1 PM CT.