The Eastern women’s basketball team (3-2) outscored Evansville (1-3) 56-19 in the second half of what would eventually become a 90-44 blowout win for the Panthers Tuesday night in Evansville.

Five Panthers scored in double figures and Eastern shot 47.3 percent from the field in its third and largest win of the season.

Karle Pace led Eastern with 17 points, Lariah Washington added 14, Claudia Stan and Taylor Steele each had 12 and Jordyn Hughes scored 10 points. Abby Feit meanwhile was the only Evansville player to hit double-digits, she scored 10 points.

Eastern head coach Matt Bollant said that this was the best his team has been defensively this season and added that the 18 steals Eastern had really helped fuel the offense’s big night.

“We got some turnovers and turned that into some layups and I think we moved the basketball well and shared it well,” Bollant said. “And we mixed up driving it and getting inside. The first half I think we got good penetration and then second half we started getting the ball inside more too.”

The win Tuesday night was the Panthers’ second road win of the season, which is significant because Eastern had just one road win across its last two seasons.

“They (the players) were just excited to get our second win and excited that we’re playing well and it is great to have that enjoyment in the locker room because our kids work really hard and we have worked really hard the last two years and we just haven’t had that same joy in the locker room afterwards,” Bollant said. “So, it’s great to see them rewarded for all their hard work.”

Eastern jumped out to a 21-15 lead in the first quarter, led by Pace who scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds, both team-highs in the quarter.

Eastern extended its lead to 34-25 by halftime. Pace finished the first half with 11 points, Washington added eight.

Evansville shot just 31.8 percent in the first half, but was able to hang around in the game thanks to going 6-of-14 from three-point range.

Eastern had plenty of second chances in the first half, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds to Evansville’s two.

The blowout really began to take shape in the third quarter where the Panthers outscored the Aces 26-6 to take a 60-31 lead into the fourth quarter. Eastern shot 9-of-16 from the field in the third quarter, whereas the Aces were an abysmal 2-of-10 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range.

The Panthers went on to outscore the Aces 30-13 in the fourth quarter, sealing the blowout and securing their largest win of the season so far.

Eastern’s sophomore forward Abby Wahl was playing in what was essentially a homecoming game for her, as Evansville resides just a short drive from her home town of Santa Claus, Indiana.

Bollant said Wahl had 50-100 people there to see her play. Wahl finished the game with nine rebounds.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or jpbullock@eiu.edu.