For Immediate Release

st. louis, missouri

January 17, 2009

Eureka fights back from 16 point deficit against webster

Boxscore

Eureka College roared back from a 16-point second half deficit to draw even only to have an elusive second victory of the season swiped away by the homestanding Webster University Gorloks, 75-64. The Red Devils trailed 52-36 with 12 minutes to play, rallied back to force a 55-55 tie at the 6:45 mark, then were done in by a 16-1 Webster run.

Lindsey Crum (Washington, Ill./HS) scorched the nets for a career-high 20 points to lead the Red Devils (1-12, 1-5 SLIAC) offensively. She has been on a tear recently, having scored at least 15 points in all five games played since the calendar clicked over to 2009. She was responsible for four of Eureka's season-high six three-point baskets. Lauren Snopek (Metamora, Ill./HS) accounted for the other two. She had 10 points and five assists while playing all but 1:04 of the game for the short-handed Red Devils.

Eureka withstood a cold shooting first half fairly well, only going into halftime trailing 32-24. Webster (8-6, 3-3 SLIAC), which improved to 7-3 at home with the win, had a difficult time breaking free from a close score. A Lisa Byard (Morton, Ill./HS) jumper with 3:33 left in the frame brought EC within 24-20, but the Gorloks scored the next eight points to grab their first double digit lead of the day. Eureka came back with the last four points of the half to close within eight.

Fighting back seemed to be a lost cause for Eureka in the second half as each time the Red Devils sliced the margin under 10, Webster would answer with a key bucket. Then, things went from bad to worse for EC when Webster's Blaire Underwood canned three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, pushing the Webster advantage up to 16.

Normally, a 16-point deficit with 12 minutes to go would take most of the remainder of the game to erase, especially for a team that scored 24 points in the first half. But the Red Devils began clicking on all cylinders on both ends of the court and were able to even the count at 55 with just over five minutes later. Crum sank a pair of triples during the 19-3 Eureka rally. Chantaivia Knight (Normal, Ill./University) also had six points coming on three shots in the lane. Finally, it was Snopek that tied the game on free throws after being fouled on a move to the bucket in transition.

Eureka next forced a missed shot by Webster, the Gorloks seventh consecutive miss, and had two tries to take the lead. The Red Devils misfired on both, however, and Katy Meyer of Webster was fouled on the rebound. That turned out to be a launching point for Meyer. Her two made free throws hurt enough, but she then dropped in three treys over the next 1:30 to lead a 16-1 Webster blitz that gave the Gorloks an insurmountable 71-56 lead with 3:07 to play. The Red Devils, who had begun the half a sparking 12-for-19 from the field, missed on seven straight shots during the fateful stretch.

Knight finished with 16 points on 6-for-11 field goal shooting and six boards for EC. Byard recorded her fourth consecutive game with double digit points with 12. She was the top rebounder for Eureka for the third straight game with eight. Snopek handed out at least four assists for the fourth game in a row. She has scored at least 10 points in each game as well.

Meyer scored 15 after halftime to finish with a game-high 22. She made four three-pointers, while Underwood hit five to account for 15 of her 20 points. Both teams shot 40 point from the field and 14-for-19 (74 percent) at the foul line.

The Red Devils will look to extend an 8-game winning streak against MacMurray College in their next contest, Wednesday, January 21 at 6:00 pm in Jacksonville. Eureka swept the season series last season by scores of 61-39 and 65-59.

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For More Information Contact:

Bryan Moore
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bmoore@eureka.edu