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For Immediate Releaseeureka, illinois
February 17, 2008
Red Devils' hot start foiled by Westminster
EUREKA — Eureka College gained a 29-13 second half rebounding advantage, but could not overcome a four-point Westminster College halftime lead in a 61-55 defeat Saturday.
The first 15 points of the game all come off three-pointers as Eureka's Brittany Gardner (Mooresville, Ind./HS) hit three in just over five minutes staking EC (6-16, 5-9 SLIAC) to a 9-6 lead. Her third trey begin a 10-2 run for Eureka, leading to the Red Devils' largest lead of the day at 16-8 after Brandi Payne (Eureka, Ill./HS) capped off the surge with a lay up at the 10:43 mark.
However, a cold spell from the field late in the first half spelled doom for the Red Devils. They were held to just one field goal over the final 7:55 allowing Westminster (10-12, 5-8 SLIAC) to launch a 12-1 rally to take its first lead of the game with 4:30 left in the half. The Red Devils made enough free throws to stay within striking distance at the halftime break, trailing 29-25.
Kim Downs (Kewanee, Ill./HS) handed out five assists and Nicole Fisher (Canton, Ill./HS) tallied 20 points in the second half, but Eureka never could catch the Blue Jays. The Red Devils held their opponent to just 26 percent (6-for-23) from the field after halftime, but Westminster frustrated the Eureka comeback effort by attempting 23 free throws for 18 of their 32 second half points.
The Maroon and Gold twice sliced the lead to as few as two points early in the second frame on baskets by Fisher, but Westminster responded with a 13-5 run to take the first double digit lead of the game at 46-36 with 11:43 remaining.
Westminster went on to lead by as many as 12 before Eureka scored 11 points in the final minute to get as close as six following a three-point play by Fisher with one second to go.
Eureka out-rebounded Westminster 51-32 in the game, reaching 50 in a game for the third time this season. The Red Devils have not been out-rebounded in any of their 14 conference games this season. Fisher led all players in the contest with 19 boards, giving her 848 for her career, which is 42 away from the EC all-time record. Payne and Shelby Naab (Beecher City, Ill./HS) pulled down seven apiece, while Gardner set a career-high with eight.
Fisher had 30 points on 11 field goal attempts. She was 14-for-20 at the line. Whitney Meurer led Westminster with 16 points.
The Red Devils' next game will be at Greenville College, Wednesday, Feb. 20. Tip-off is set for 6:00 pm. Greenville scored five points in the last 1.6 seconds of the first meeting to steal a 60-58 victory at Eureka on Jan. 23.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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