|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
For Immediate Releaseeureka, illinois
February 4, 2009
Downs leads flu-Plagued Red Devils with career-High 6 blocks, 8 reb.
For a team weakened in recent days by the flu bug, the Eureka College Red Devils were more in need of hot soup and a warm blanket on a cold winter's Wednesday night instead of what they ended up with — a desperate group of Gorloks looking to stay alive in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff race. Webster University attacked the offensive glass for 21 second chance opportunities in a 65-42 victory over Eureka.
The Red Devils (2-16, 2-9 SLIAC) were able to slow the game into a defensive struggle for the better part of the first half. A layup by Chantaivia Knight (Normal, Ill./University) that gave EC a 6-4 lead was Eureka's only basket during a stretch of almost 10 minutes, but Webster (10-9, 5-6 SLIAC) was only able to gain a 14-9 advantage by the time Heather Skelton's (Harvard, Ill./Alden-Hebron) jumper fell for EC with 7:37 left in the frame.
The Gorloks took advantage over the next three minutes, however, galloping out to a 28-12 edge with a 14-3 surge. Three-pointers by Lindsey Crum (Washington, Ill./HS) and Lauren Snopek (Metamora, Ill./HS) awakened the Maroon and Gold attack soon thereafter, and Kim Downs (Kewanee, Ill./HS) sank a shot at the buzzer after an offensive rebound to cut the Webster lead to 33-20 at halftime.
The Red Devils did well to stay within 12 at intermission, considering one player, Downs, accounted for half of the team's 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Webster pulled down 14 offensive boards alone and 31 caroms overall in the half.
The rebounding discrepancy evened out somewhat in the second half, but that did not allow Eureka to fill in the gap any. The opening five seconds of the half summed up the Red Devils' luck on the night as a slip led to an easy layup for Webster.
Crum converted a beautiful pass from Snopek into two points to make the score 37-24 at the 17:20 mark only to see Webster score the next 10 points for a 23-point margin.
The Gorloks avoided a similar meltdown as in the teams' previous meeting in which Webster blew a 16-point second half lead before recovering to win, despite Snopek, who went on to record 11 points after halftime as EC was able to get as close as 17 with five minutes to go.
Downs set Eureka's single season blocked shots record last season without sending back more than five shots in any game. She hit six blocks for the first time in her career against Webster, while also chipping in three steals and a team-high eight rebounds. Downs now has 124 blocked shots in her career, putting her one behind Jill McGinnis for second place on the EC all-time list.
Myrtie Reilly, who came into the game leading the SLIAC in blocked shots had two for Webster, but picked up 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Gorloks.
Snopek went 2-for-2 from three-point range as Eureka wound up 4-for-6 behind the arc on the night. She became the fifth different Red Devil to lead the team in points this season with 13. Knight sank 5-of-7 field goal attempts to finish with 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Crum was held to nine points, marking the first time in 10 games she has scored in single digits.
The Red Devils will travel to Principia College for their next SLIAC contest, Saturday, January 7 at 3:00 pm. The Panthers, who have risen from the ashes to revive their playoff hopes by winning four out of their last six games, stopped a three-game losing streak to EC earlier this season with a 69-59 victory in Eureka.
###
For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
|
|---|
|
|---|
