Eastern women’s basketball blew out the Chicago State Cougars 86-64 Thursday evening in Lantz Arena.
This exhibition game was the first time Panthers fans could see the team and their potential for the rest of the season.
Here are our top three takeaways we noted on from the game:
Flippin:
1. The Panthers started out slow at the beginning of the game.
Chicago State went on a 6-0 run to start off the game. Although the Panthers started off a little slow in the first quarter, junior forward Macy McGlone set the tone with a three pointer to put the Panthers on the board.
McGlone recorded nine points throughout the first quarter.
2. McGlone and junior guard Miah Monahan recorded double digits in points before the first half was over.
McGlone recorded 15 points, and Monahan recorded 11 points before the start of the second half. McGlone finished the game with 24 points, and Monahan finished the game with 19 points.
Sophomore guard Charita “Tiny” Lewis was the third Panther to record double digits against the Cougars. Lewis recorded 11 points throughout the game.
3. Junior forward Taris Thornton had a spectacular lone 6-0 run.
Coming off the bench, Thornton set a pace for the Panthers.
With four seconds left in the third quarter, Thornton got her fourth rebound of the game after Lewis missed a free throw. Thornton brought the ball out to push back into the paint for the buzzer beater layup.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Thornton made a jump shot right outside of the paint. Not even 20 seconds later, Thornton steals the ball from Cougar center Josie Hill to record a fast break layup.
Thornton ended the game with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Schmitz:
1. Junior guard Miah Monahan and junior forward Macy McGlone will be the standout players for Eastern.
Monahan and McGlone combined 43 points out of the 86 the Panthers scored. The offense seemed to run through the two and got rolling in the second quarter because of them.
2. Three-pointers were not going down for the Panthers.
The offensive game-plan needs to change from the three-point perspective.
Eastern shot 5-31 from three-point range. The Panthers cannot continue to be shooting threes that much and miss that much as well.
3. Panther defense looked unstoppable against the Cougars.
Eastern’s defense looks deadly. The Panthers was able to force 29 turnovers and get 13 steals.
They capitalized on those too, leading to 30 points off the turnover.
Eastern just needs to keep up the defensive pressure as they face tougher opponents.
The Panthers’ will travel to Indianapolis to play the IUPUI Jaguars on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The sports staff can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.
