The 11th longest home winning streak in college women’s basketball has been broken. 

After a streak of 16 home wins, Eastern women’s basketball lost its season and home opener to Drake 83-65 Monday at the Kid’s Day Game in Groniger Arena  

Eastern has not lost a game at home since February 3, 2024, against Little Rock.  

“You make records, records get broken. It is what it is,” McGlothan said.  

Drake was able to out-rebound Eastern 50-26. 

“We lost on the rebounds,” head coach Marqus McGlothan said. “Their fives and fours play significantly better than ours, and 50-26 on the rebound, you’re not going to win too many games like that.” 

The Panthers (0-1) started out fast, making five out of their first six shots. They kept up the pressure, as Drake (1-0) only led for 59 seconds in the first quarter. 

Eastern was ahead going into the second quarter but only led for 14 more seconds before Drake took the lead and pulled away.  

The Bulldogs were able to use 32 points from fast breaks and second chances to keep Eastern from coming back.  

Sophomore forward Maggie Taylor and freshman guard Anna Becker combined for 23 rebounds for the Bulldogs, almost out-rebounding Eastern all by themselves.  

Junior guard Lalani Ellis came back from an injury. She scored 14 points and was the leading scorer for Eastern. 

“My teammates got me going. They trusted me to do what I do,” Ellis said. “Even though I’ve been out for a while, they still trust me, so that just gave me motivation to keep doing what I did.” 

Transfer junior guard Ava Stoller had 13 points and was the second leading scorer for Eastern. 

Transfer redshirt sophomore center Abbie Boutilier started for the panthers. She had four blocks halftime.  

She did not get another for the rest of the game. Boutilier also finished with four rebounds.  

McGlothan said Eastern’s centers were outplayed by Drake’s. 

“Their fives was just beating our fives up and down the court,” McGlothan said. 

It was the kid’s game for Eastern as elementary schools from the surrounding area all packed into the arena to cheer for the Panthers. There were 2,219 in attendance with most of them being small children.  

At times the noise was deafening. 

Drake missed 11 of its 25 free throws. Every time Drake took free throws, the entire crowd started screaming.  

“I think the noise helped us a little bit,” Stoller said. “It just rattled the other team, and it was great to see the community come in support.” 

For the last two years, Eastern has lost on the road for opening day. The last time Eastern opened the season at home was a win against The University of Missouri St. Louis in 2022.  

Eastern now goes on the road for seven straight games.  

“We just lock in short-term memory. We come back tomorrow, do what we got to do, and we’ll be back in the winning column,” Ellis said. 

Eastern’s next game is on Thursday against Purdue at 6 p.m.  

Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.