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Game Day Guide: Iowa Women's Basketball vs. Eastern Illinois
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- Game Day Guide: Iowa Women's Basketball vs. Eastern Illinois
(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Jan Jensen's evaluation of Monday's game after watching the tape.
There's only seven days in a week, but if Iowa women's basketball head coach Jan Jensen could extend that to eight, she probably could.
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The Hawkeyes are only three days into their 2026-27 season, but that doesn't mean they have time to get used to the in-season grind. After dispatching Towson in the season opener on Monday night, Iowa still has two games to play this week - Eastern Illinois on Thursday and a showdown at No. 1 Connecticut on Sunday afternoon.
The strenuous three-game stretch creates more changes to Iowa's preparation schedule than some may realize. The NCAA requires coaches to give the athletes one day off every seven days, so the Hawkeyes will prepare for Thursday's contest against Eastern Illinois with only one day of preparation.
No. 10 Iowa should still have no problem handling business against the Panthers, but Jensen's perspective on playing three games in seven days to begin the season was certainly an interesting one.
"So [we're] kind of balancing taking care of business, continuing to work on the things we need to work on, but always having to prep for each and upcoming opponent," Jensen said at media availability on Nov. 4. "That's been a little bit of a challenge to get it all in this week, but I'm anxious to get to practice and see our team."
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Here is everything you need to know about Thursday's matchup, including game time, TV destination, and a scouting report on EIU.
Where/When To Watch
Matchup:Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-1) @ No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes (1-0)
Location:Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa
Scheduled game time:Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
TV: BTN+
Announcers:Collin Carrithers, Morgan Burhans, and Megan Heine
Radio:Hawkeye Radio Network (Rob Brooks, Kathryn Reynolds)
Student Radio: KRUI (Aiden Schoeff, Robert Yoshimura)
Scouting Eastern Illinois
Location:Charleston, Illinois
Enrollment:3,975 undergraduates (over 7,600 total per the university)
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Famous alumni:Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Jimmy Garoppolo, Mike Shanahan, John Malkovich
Series history:First meeting
Eastern Illinois' women's basketball history has largely been a disappointing one. Eastern Illinois did have some success in the late 2010s and early 2020s under head coach Matt Bollant, but the Panthers have struggled since under his replacement Marqus McGlothan, finishing a dismal 4-27 (3-17 in conference play) in 2025-26. Eastern Illinois' last NCAA tournament berth was all the way back in 1988, which remains the school's only trip to the Big Dance. The Panthers were a No. 10 seed in that 40-team field, but narrowly lost to seventh-seeded Colorado, 78-72.
As for the 2026-27 Panthers, there are two players Hawkeye fans should be watching for on Thursday. The first is guard Nyah Harding, who seems poised to take a step forward after posting 15 points in Tuesday's loss to Drake, but the second player is certainly going to be an interesting watch: 6-foot-10 center Abbie Boutilier. Boutilier is the second-tallest player in women's basketball right now, trailing 7-foot-1 Stephanie Okechukwu of Texas Tech.
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The Flower Mound, Texas native began her career with national powerhouse Texas, but injuries resulted in her never seeing the floor in Austin. Boutilier then transferred to Eastern Illinois, where she again suffered a season-ending injury in December of last season.
Despite not playing a ton of basketball in her career so far, Boutiler did show off her height advantage before her Dec. 18 injury last year, recording an OVC-best 25 blocks. She played only 12 minutes against Drake on Tuesday (scored two points), so we'll see if Boutiler will rattle 6-foot-4 Ava Heiden a little bit in this one.
Third-year guard Dani Carnegie isn't worried one bit about Boutiler's presence, though.
"Me personally, I play against boys, so it's just it's just another human being. Just be confident in what you do."
