On top of its graduates, the EIU women’s basketball team will lose a few of its players to the transfer portal, which opened on Tuesday.  

The Panthers, who are coming off a 4-27 season which included a 3-17 Ohio Valley Conference record and last place finish, are losing four of their players from this season to the college basketball transfer portal, according to On3 Sports.  

Junior guard Lalaini Ellis announced she was entering the transfer portal in a post on her Instagram account on Monday.  

Ellis played three seasons for the Panthers but only played the first three games of the 2025-26 season before leaving Eastern’s game against Indiana State five minutes into it with what turned out to be a season-ending injury.  

In her first two seasons as a Panther, Ellis averaged just over seven points per game and made 21 appearances in each season. In the 2024-25 season, 17 of her 21 appearances came as starts.  

Ellis started all three games she played this season. In the season opener against Drake, she led the Panthers with 14 points and added 16 points in Eastern’s 82-67 loss to Purdue. 

Redshirt junior forward Sydney-James Desroches is transferring from Eastern. She announced it Tuesday with a post on Instagram.  

The 2025-26 season was a breakout year for Desroches, who averaged 10.4 points per game in 18 appearances this season. Of those 18 games played, Desroches made 14 starts.  

An early-season broken wrist injury sidelined her until Jan. 1, when she made her return by scoring a career-high 20 points against SEMO.  

Desroches was with the Panthers for four years and played three seasons after taking a redshirt year in the 2022-23 season.  

Redshirt junior forward Ella Lune has entered the transfer portal, according to On3.  

Lune was with the Panthers for four seasons but only played in three campaigns after redshirting her freshman year.  

Lune made 23 starts in 29 games played this season with an average of 6.2 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game. She scored double figures in four games this season with a season-high 19 points against Morehead State on Feb. 19.  

The final player that has entered their name into the transfer portal, according to On3 and her X account, is freshman forward Liana Buckhalton. 

Buckhalton entered off the bench in six games this season for Eastern, with all her appearances coming before the start of OVC play. She totaled 11 points in 50 minutes of action across the entire season, with her last appearence being on Dec. 14, 2025, against Butler. 

Eastern currently has seven players on the active team roster.

Across the OVC, Eastern was far from the school that was hit the hardest by the portal. UT Martin, Morehead State and Lindenwood each lost nine players to the transfer portal, while SEMO had seven transfer out.  

Southern Indiana was the only OVC school to not lose a single player to the portal. 

The transfer portal, which opened on Tuesday, is set to close on April 20. 

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].