For Immediate Release
greenville, illinois
January 28, 2009
Byard grabs career-High 15 reb., Panthers claw past EC
Boxscore
Eureka College engaged in yet another low scoring, defensive struggle with Greenville College Wednesday night, falling short against the Panthers, 54-46. Neither team has eclipsed the 63 point mark in any of the six games Eureka and Greenville have played as St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals.
Lindsey Crum (Washington, Ill./HS), who led all players on the night with 22 points, got Eureka (2-14, 2-7 SLIAC) off to a fast start. She recorded a pair of three-point play conversions in the first seven minutes as the Red Devils gained a 14-8 advantage.
From there, Eureka would unfortunately struggle offensively for the remainder of the night. At no time was that so evident than over the next nine minutes as the Red Devils missed 12 consecutive field goal tries opening the door for a 20-0 Greenville (6-10, 3-6 SLIAC) run. Fittingly, Crum ended the drought with a jumper with 4:31 to go in the opening half that cut the Panthers' lead to 28-16.
Crum accounted for half of Eureka's 14 made field goals in the game. She hit a three-pointer to pull EC within seven points later in the half, but Meredith Banal put in two shots to get Greenville back up by double figures, 34-24 at intermission.
The Greenville attack enjoyed a solid half offensively against the normally rugged Eureka defense. The Panthers gave away just four turnovers and shot 40 percent (14-for-35). It was a much different story in the second half as the Red Devils dug in to hold Greenville to 22 percent shooting (6-for-27) and 20 points after halftime.
The staunch defensive effort allowed Eureka to climb back into the game despite an off target shooting night. Over the first 11 minutes of the second half, Crum outscored the Greenville team herself 9-6. Lisa Byard (Morton, Ill./HS) pitched in two free throws and Lauren Snopek (Metamora, Ill./HS) hit a jumper to assist in the Eureka comeback attempt.
Crum's free throw with 9:32 remaining sliced the Greenville lead to 40-37 and capped a 9-2 Eureka rally that took almost eight minutes off the clock. Byard, who grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds on the night, came close to cutting the deficit to one after she rebounded a missed foul shot, but her put back did not fall. The Red Devils had three other chances to cut into the lead, but misfired twice and committed a turnover the other time.
Rose Sanders' layup with 8:24 ended a seven minute scoring drought for Greenville. The Panthers went on to record the next six points as well to go up 48-37 with 4:50 to go. Eureka got in gear with nine points in the final 3:30 of the game, but got no closer than the final margin of eight points.
Crum has led EC in points in seven out of eight games played in 2009, amassing at least 15 in each contest. She was 7-for-14 from the field against Greenville and added five rebounds. Byard had 11 points to go with her 15 boards for double-double No. 4 on the season. Snopek registered five points, five rebounds and kept her lead in the conference assist rankings with three dishes. Kim Downs (Kewanee, Ill./HS) had seven rebounds and four points. The Red Devils shot a season-worst 28 percent (14-for-50), but handed away a season-low 17 turnovers.
Banal paced Greenville with 20 points, though she converted just six out of 19 shot attempts. Susan Githinji pulled down 11 rebounds in 21 minutes as the Panthers held a 15-4 edge in second chance points.
Eureka will play the final game of a stretch of four out of five contests on the road Saturday, January 31 at Fontbonne University. The Griffins will be looking for revenge in the 3:00 pm tip-off after suffering their worst loss in SLIAC play to the Red Devils, 69-52 on December 9. Since the loss to Eureka, Fontbonne has gone 5-2 in league play to move into third place.
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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
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