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CHARLESTON, ILL -- Eastern Illinois women's basketball jumped ahead early and withstood a late surge to earn a 75-58 home win over the Tennessee State Lady Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena in the team's annual CARE Game.  With the win, the Panthers improve to 19-3 overall and 12-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play, the best start to OVC play in school history.  The Panthers' 12 OVC wins also matches their longest ever in-season OVC winning streak, set during the 2009-10 season.  Overall, the Panthers have won 15 consecutive OVC regular season games dating back to the end of last season.

"It's so special, from last year to this year, just to see the difference and all the work we put in the pre-season, to see it pay off now."  said Miah Monahan.  "It's just a really special moment, and we just can't settle.  We got to keep going."

"It feels pretty good,"  Macy McGlone added.  "This is my first year here, and to come in, and all of a sudden we're breaking these records, it's pretty awesome."

The Panthers jumped ahead to begin the game, as five early points from Morgan Litwiller helped earn EIU an 11-5 lead.  After some Panther free throws made it 15-9, Monahan sank a three pointer to make it 18-9.  EIU would take a 21-11 lead before three TSU free throws made it 21-14 to end the 1st quarter.  McGlone found space in the lane and was able to score the first two buckets of the second quarter to up the Panthers' lead to 25-14.  After TSU's Kianni Westbrook made a layup to cut it to single digits, Monahan responded with yet another three-pointer to give EIU a 12-point lead.  After a 6-0 TSU run, Taris Thornton converted a one-handed jumper in the paint and Monahan hit her third three of the half to widen the gap back to double digits.  After a three from TSU's Gia Adams, Lariah Washington hit a jump shot to make it 35-25 at halftime.

The Panthers took control right out of the gate to begin the seconds half, as back-to-back threes from Lyric Johnson and Washington were followed by McGlone finding a cutting Monahan for a layup underneath to give EIU their biggest lead up to that point at 43-25, forcing a TSU timeout.  The Panthers would keep the Lady Tigers at bay for the remainder of the third quarter, continuously finding holes in the Lady Tigers' full court press and never letting TSU get closer than 15.  EIU went up by as many as 21 when another three from Litwiller made it 60-39.  TSU's Ashley Malone made a layup to make it 60-41 at the end of the third quarter and ultimately spark a 12-1 TSU run that made it 61-51 with just under seven minutes remaining.  McGlone and Monahan answered the bell, scoring nine of EIU's next 10 points along with a free throw from Thornton to make it 71-56 with less than two minutes remaining, effectively putting the game away. 

McGlone had 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with six rebounds and three blocked shots for her fourth 20+ point performance of the season.  Monahan had 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, just one shy of her career high, to go along with six assists and five rebounds.  Litwiller had a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while Washington scored seven.  Johnson had six points and three rebounds while Thornton had five points off the bench and Julia Bengtson came off the bench to score three points and collect a career high-tying six rebounds.  Ellie Colson got into the game late and scored a layup on her only attempt.

Against TSU's aggressive full court press, the Panthers turned the ball over only 14 times.  EIU shot 50% from the field and accumulated 19 assists on 27 made shots.

"It starts with our point guard.  Miah was great,"  said head coach Matt Bollant.  "But overall, we as a team just had good poise today and we didn't get hurried, we didn't get rushed, even with their pressure."

The Panthers will play their next game at home against the UT Martin Skyhawks on Thursday, February 9 at 5 PM CT.