For Immediate Release

river forest, illinois

November 26, 2008

EC frosh scores 33 points, most by red devil in 16 seasons

Boxscore

Lisa Byard's (Morton, Ill./HS) eye-catching 33-point effort was not quite enough to get Eureka College its first win of the season Wednesday against Concordia University Chicago as the Cougars got 31 points from Marche Smith to pick up a 71-56 victory.

Playing in just her second collegiate game ever, Byard scored more points in a game than any Red Devil in almost 16 years. The last EC women's player with 33 points was Jami Larson in a game played in December of 1992. Byard made 12-of-21 field goal attempts and was 9-for-15 at the line. She scored 19 in the second half as EC got within five points after trailing by as many as 17.

The Red Devils (0-2) played stellar defense in the opening frame, but went scoreless for almost six minutes during a 9-0 Concordia (2-2) run that put the Cougars ahead 22-9. Eureka forced Concordia into 21 percent from the field (8-for-38) in the first half, but the Cougars grabbed 10 offensive boards for eight second chance points and a 30-20 lead at intermission.

After a Lindsey Crum (Washington, Ill./HS) lay up got Eureka within eight early in the second half, Concordia launched a 9-0 offensive to run out to its largest lead of the night, 41-24, at the 15:45 mark.

The Red Devils made sure the Cougars could not get too cozy as Byard hit three shots over the next two minutes, including one three-point play and Lauren Snopek (Metamora, Ill./HS) added a jumper to get EC back within single digits at 41-33.

Concordia would again pull ahead by 14, but Eureka was not done. Byard had seven points, including another three-point conversion during a 9-0 EC rally that left the Red Devils only down 51-46 with still over seven minutes remaining. Eureka had outscored Concordia 22-10 over an eight minute span at this point of the contest.

The Cougars' accurate free throw shooting came to the forefront down the stretch, however, to keep the Red Devils at bay. Concordia made seven out of eight freebies in the final five and a half minutes to finish 26-for-31 (84 percent) at the stripe to preserve the win. A Melissa Schwab three-pointer helped lift Concordia back to a 10 point lead. Eureka got within eight with 5:40 to play on a Rachel Parnau (Peotone, Ill./HS) jumper, but could get no closer the rest of the way.

Byard was the only Red Devil in double figures in points. She became the third different player to record a 30+ point game for EC over the last nine games dating back to last season, and the only freshman to do so. She also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Crum finished with nine points, six boards and three assists. Kim Downs (Kewanee, Ill./HS) was limited to 18 minutes with foul trouble, but still recorded team-highs with seven rebounds and four assists. Snopek also played in foul trouble, scoring four points and dishing out three assists in 25 minutes.

Smith hit on 15-of-17 free throw attempts en route to her 31 points. She was 2-for-4 from three-point territory, but the Cougars shot just 21 percent (5-for-24) from long range. Smith added 10 rebounds as the Cougars enjoyed a 46-39 advantage on the boards. They secured 15 offensive rebounds off of 32 percent shooting.

The Red Devils will next take on Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Saturday, November 29 at 1:00 pm.

###

For More Information Contact:

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