EASTERN ILLINOIS (1-8) vs. North Dakota State (7-2)
Thursday, December 11  •  6:00 pm 
Charleston, Ill.  •  Groniger Arena

GAME INFO
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.eiupanthers.com
SERIES RECORD: NDSU leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: @NDSU 65, EIU 56 on Nov. 10, 2024
NOTES: EIU Complete Game Notes

GAME 10
Eastern Illinois returns home to Groniger Arena after the Panthers have been on the road for 38 days, the current longest gap in the NCAA between home games.   The Panthers now play three of their next four games at home heading into the Holiday Break.  EIU lost on the road in its most recent game at Illinois State falling to 1-8 on the season.  EIU hosts North Dakota State on Thursday night in a return visit by the Bison from last year's game in Fargo.  NDSU has won five straight to enter at 7-2 overall.  

LUNE FINISHES IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Ella Lune returned to the CEFCU Center for the first time as a player since winning an IHSA Class 1A State Championship as a senior.   She scored in double figures in both IHSA Tournament games in the venue and continued that streak on Sunday with a season-high 16 points.  Lune was 4-of-4 from 3-point range and 5-of-10 overall from the field.  The redshirt junior added four rebounds, three blocks and an assist during 30 minutes on the court.  It was Lune's second career double figure scoring game after a career high of 23 last year against SIUE.

STOLLER CONTINUES TO PRODUCE OFFENSE
Junior guard Ava Stoller continues to produce offense for the Panthers as the transfer from SIUE finished with 16 points on Sunday at Illinois State.  It was the sixth double figure scoring game this season for Stoller which includes a career high 25 points at Purdue and 21 points in the road win at Bellarmine.  Stoller has now been the Panthers leading scorer in five of nine games this year and is the overall scoring leader for the season at 13.2 points per game.  In addition Stoller has had increased production distributing the basketball ranking in the OVC Top Ten in assists per game at 3.0 and assist-to-turnover ratio at plus 1.4.   She is tied for fourth in the OVC in free throw attempts with 38 while her 89.5 free throw percentage ranks third in the league.  

PANTHERS PERFECT AT THE LINE AGAIN
Eastern Illinois ran its current streak of consecutive team free throws made to 14 straight with the last miss coming late in the fourth quarter of the road win at Bellarmine.  The Panthers have been perfect from the stripe in their last two games (albeit with limited opportunities) going 5-of-5 against East Tennessee and 6-of-6 at Illinois State.  For the year EIU is shooting 70.8 percent from the line as a team which ranks fifth in the OVC.   EIU is averaging 14.4 free throw attempts per game which ranks last in the OVC.

UP NEXT
Sunday, December 14 at Butler (1 pm / ESPN+)