The growing pains that came earlier in the season for Panther rugby seem to have passed.

A 97-7 shellacking of Western Kentucky removes any doubt of Eastern’s prowess.

The offensive explosion marks the highest point total for Eastern since a 106-0 win over Purdue last November. The contest also featured performances that tied four previous Eastern women’s rugby records.

The Panthers scored 15 tries on the day, with eight of them coming from former red-shirt senior Lauren Doyle.

Her performance tied the women’s rugby records for trys in a game (8) and points in a game (40), records formerly held by Crystal Jones.

She also tied the record for most runs over 20-yards with her seven against Western Kentucky.

“She is an unbelievable player,” Mahan said. “She understands rugby and has the talent, that’s what we need.”

The scoring onslaught also included sophomore center Madison Kissner adding five trys into the mix, a career high. She also added six solo tackles to help shut down the Big Red offense.

In her second game back from injury, senior flanker Stephanie Mahan notched 12 tackles in the victory. She continues to inch closer to second place on the all-time list of solo tackles. Her career number of 196 is 55 behind the mark of Chase Cain.

“I feel like I can do it,” Mahan said. “I feel like with the remaining games I can surpass it by the end of the season.

Sophmore lock Kim Youhas, who is handling the kicking duties this season, converted 11-of-15 two-point conversions on the day.

Her 11 conversions allowed her to enter the record books as well, tying the previous mark set by Coartney McKinney.

She is now 15-of-22 on the year.

Eastern has never finished with a losing season, and have only lost more than two games three times.

“I think the last game was a turning point,” Mahan said. “Our goal is to continue to win the rest of the way.”

The Panthers will look to continue their success this week as the travel to Kansas State.

Nicholas Ruffolo can be reached at 581-2812 or nfruffolo@eiu.edu