For Immediate Release

st. louis, missouri

January 31, 2009

crum crams 19 pts into conclusion of consistently colossal January

Boxscore

Eureka College could not repeat its performance against Fontbonne University from earlier this season in the return matchup Saturday afternoon in St. Louis. The Griffins, who suffered their worst SLIAC loss of the season thus far at the hands of the Red Devils, 69-52, on December 9, won their fifth game in a row, 77-57 over Eureka.

Two Red Devils (2-15, 2-8 SLIAC) extended impressive individual streaks despite the loss. Lisa Byard (Morton, Ill./HS) recorded 13 points and 14 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double, while Lindsey Crum (Washington, Ill./HS) tallied 19 points, giving her nine straight games with at least 15 points.

Fontbonne (8-11, 7-3 SLIAC), which improved to 5-0 in conference play at home, got off to a good start at 9-2 and never trailed. The Red Devils stayed close the entire first half though, despite shooting 19 percent from the field. The Griffins gained a 13 point lead, but an 8-0 rally by Eureka trimmed the deficit to five (21-16). Crum accounted for the first six points before Kim Downs (Kewanee, Ill./HS) sank two free throws with 3:49 left in the half.

Fontbonne outscored EC 9-4 the rest of the way for a 30-20 lead at intermission. Eureka made 14-of-18 at the foul line, but the Griffins forced 16 turnovers in the opening frame.

The Red Devils stayed within striking distance into the second half. A Crum jumper fell in at the 16 minute mark, making the score 38-29 in favor of Fontbonne. That would be the last field goal before a five minute span without a field goal for EC, allowing the Griffins to launch a 14-1 offensive to obtain a 52-30 advantage with 12 minutes remaining.

Fontbonne made three treys and converted a foul on a three-point attempt into three more points down the stretch or Eureka may well have made a game of it. Even still, the Red Devils got as close as 14 points with 3:13 to go, but the Griffins had enough to keep EC at bay.

Crum completed one of the most prolific scoring months in EC history. The junior amassed 180 points in nine games played in the month of January for a 20.0 average. Byard earned game-high honors in rebounds for the third straight game. She pulled down seven of Eureka's 23 offensive boards, which resulted in a 16-9 EC edge in second chance points.

Leesa Statler (Marietta, Ill./Bushnell-Prairie City) had a career-high eight rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Downs and Chantaivia Knight (Normal, Ill./University) recorded eight points and seven rebounds each. Downs added three steals and two blocked shots. Lauren Snopek (Metamora, Ill./HS) pitched in five points. The Red Devils finished 28-for-44 (64 percent) at the line. That is the most free throw attempts in a game for Eureka since having 47 tries against Asbury on December 1, 2001, a span of 191 games.

Calli Collier led Fontbonne with 19 points. She canned four of the Griffins' nine three-pointers. Fontbonne shot 41 percent compared to 27 percent for EC.

After having completed a stretch of four out of five games on the road, the Red Devils will finish the season with five out of eight games at home; the first of which will be Wednesday, February 4 at 6:00 pm versus Webster University. The Gorloks took a 75-64 decision from Eureka on January 17, only to lose three of their next four contests to put their league tournament hopes in serious danger.

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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