The Eastern women’s basketball team knows exactly what it is walking into Friday when the Panthers will travel to Butler to face a team that they are well aware may be the strongest opponent on their schedule.

“They are probably the best team we have on our schedule,” head coach Matthew Bollant said. “I’d say Northern Illinois is probably in that ballpark, but yeah, going into this game they’re probably on paper the best team we are going to play all year.”

Butler is a Big East team that will challenge Eastern at every position and in every aspect on a basketball court that one team can challenge another in. 

Outcome aside, Eastern’s match with Butler will serve as a measuring stick that will give Bollant an idea of where his young team is on a competitiveness scale. 

“It will give us a good ‘Where are we at?’” Bollant said. “Also, physically how close are we to being able to compete against the highest level of physicality. So it will give us a little bit more of a barometer and find out early where we are at.”

The Bulldogs’ duo of point guard Whitney Jennings (16.8 ppg last season) and all-conference center Tori Schickel (16.4 ppg, 9.8 rebounds) will also most likely be the best two players Eastern faces all season long. Preparing for those two matchup-wise has specifically been a focus for Eastern this week. 

Jennings will likely draw the attention of Eastern’s all-conference point guard and the team’s highest-motor defender Grace Lennox, with freshman Kira Arthofer, who has shown early she may be the team’s best perimeter defender, helping out where she can. 

Schickel, on the other hand, will be shadowed by both of Eastern’s starting forwards, sophomore Grace McRae and junior Jennifer Nehls.

“It will be a combination of (McRae and Nehls on Schickel) and we’ve worked a little bit of double teaming and doing a little bit of that trying to get ready,” Bollant said. “What concerns me probably the most is just (Schickel’s) ability to offensive rebound, just her length and strength inside. But hopefully we can limit her the best we can, because she is really good.”

Last season Eastern struggled on the road against big opponents. Eastern lost 74-40 to Northwestern and 66-37 to Delaware in a game that was played in Philadelphia. 

Showing that his team can be competitive on the road against more talented schools is something Bollant is hoping to see on Friday. 

“What are the kids that are going to play with courage and step up and make plays for us and see that happen,” Bollant said.

Eastern starts three sophomores in McRae, Taylor Steele and Karle Pace. 

All of their developments will be important to watch as the season progresses, as their maturation process can make or break Eastern’s season moving forward. 

For those three, playing against a team like Butler will give a good indication as to where the trio is in their process of possibly becoming one of the best in the OVC.

“It will be interesting. I didn’t feel like Karle played great the other night and I think she would be the first one to say that as well, but she is a gamer and a tough kid so I expect her to play well,” Bollant said. “Taylor has been really good and really consistent. If GMac (McRae) can stay out of foul trouble, she’s been good for us. So those three kids have all taken a step and now we’re going to try and do it against really good competition.”

Arthofer flashed some signs of good things to come for the Panthers in the team’s first game. 

In exhibition play, the freshman struggled, but in the season opener, she scored six points on 3-of-5 shooting and made one play in particular that turned some heads. 

Arthofer drove strong into the lane to her left and finished at the rim through traffic, displaying great body and ball control the entire way through.

 Arthofer was originally a Big 10 recruit in high school before she tore her ACL. That play in the opener flashed some of that Big 10 potential. 

“She is really talented and she might be our best, one of our best, on-ball defenders right now,” Bollant said. “She can really guard the ball and she has a competitive spirit to her, she had a couple defensive rebounds where she went up and got it and it’s like, ‘Oh that’s pretty athletic.’”

Butler and Eastern tip-off at 11 a.m. Friday in Indianapolis. 

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].