Illinois wanted to beat Eastern.

That’s why it scheduled the Panthers at the last minute for Friday’s match.

“I think they looked at our record and saw that we lost twice in a row and that we weren’t as high scoring as we used to be, and all the injuries, and they thought we would be weak,” junior center Molly Clutter said. “That definitely gets you fired up. Anytime someone thinks they are going to beat you, you want to prove them wrong.”

And the Panthers did.

They defeated Illinois 32-21 on Friday in Champaign.

The Panthers were originally scheduled to play at Purdue on Friday, but had to adjust on Thursday because of conflicts with Purdue’s scheduling.

Eastern took a 17-0 halftime lead.

Sophomore wing Crystal Jones, Clutter, and junior wing Samantha Manto all scored before halftime. Junior lock Victoria Rosales had two conversions.

“We did a good job holding them in the first half and then, in the second, it seemed like we would score and then back off a little and give them momentum, and then score and then back off a little,” Clutter said.

After the half, Illinois came out and scored a try and a conversion, but Jones answered back with another try, making it 22-7.

Senior scrum-half Marlise Davidson then had a try, followed by an Illini try and conversion about halfway into the second half.

The score was 27-14 when Clutter ran in another try. Illinois had one more try and conversion one minute before the game ended.

The Panthers will play Illinois at Champaign again Nov. 3.

“We watched the film and are going to work on the things we need to for the next few weeks in order to be ready to play them again,” Clutter said.