EASTERN ILLINOIS at Drake
Tuesday, Nov. 3  •  6 pm 
Des Moines, Iowa  •  Knapp Center

GAME COVERAGE
RADIO: Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU
TV: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: www.eiupanthers.com
SERIES RECORD: Drake leads 13-6
LAST MEETING: Drake 83, @EIU 65 on Nov. 3, 2025
NOTES: EIU Complete Game Notes

GAME 1
Eastern Illinois opens the 2026-27 season with a massive road trip to the State of Iowa opening with Tuesday's game at Drake followed by games at Iowa on Thursday night and Iowa State on Sunday.  This marks the third time in the last five years that Eastern Illinois has opened the basketball season on the road.  EIU hosted Drake for the season opener last year after opening the previous season on the road at North Dakota.  EIU posted a 4-27 record last year including a 3-17 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

OVC PLAYERS TO WATCH
Eastern Illinois had two players named on the Ohio Valley Conference preseason players to watch list as seniors Ava Stoller and Janyah Bohanon were both selected.  Stoller is in her fourth season as a player in the OVC and second season with the Panthers.  She set the school single season record in free throw percentage last year at 90 percent.  She enters the season with 788 collegiate points and 222 collegiate assists.  Bohanon is a transfer into the program after playing last year Buffalo following two seasons at Howard.  Bohanon has nine career double figure scoring games having appeared in 77 games at the NCAA Division I level.  

EXHIBITION REWIND
Eastern Illinois picked up a pair of wins during its two open exhibition games as the Panthers beat NCAA Division II Quincy (W 66-57) and NCAA Division III Illinois Wesleyan (W 76-69).  EIU had different players and highlights during each of the two wins giving them a handful of things to build on as the season begins.  Nevaeh Dickman and Abbie Boutilier led the Panthers in scoring against Quincy with Dickman scoring 16 and Boutilier adding ten.  EIU dominated play on the glass with a 50-35 margin.  Against Illinois Wesleyan senior Clara Glad stepped up scoring 27 points with fellow senior Ava Stoller adding 16 points and eight assists.  EIU shot 53.3 percent against Illinois Wesleyan. 

RETURNING NUCLEUS
Despite a year that saw the Panthers utilize 11 different starting line-ups and see all but one player on the roster miss one or more games during the season, EIU does return a core nucleus of players for the 2026-27 season.  Eastern Illinois returns seven players from last year's roster.   Clara Glad was the lone EIU player to appear in all 31 games making 30 starts at 6.7 points per game.  Ava Stoller was EIU's leading scorer at 11.9 points per game starting 29 games.  Meioshe Mason is the team's leading rebounder at 5.5 per game in 28 contests (25 starts). 

UP NEXT
Thursday, November 5 at Iowa - 7:30 pm (BTN+)