December 16, 2008

Byard becomes 2nd EC frosh named SLIAC Player of the Week

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has named Eureka College's Lisa Byard (Morton, Ill./HS) its Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of December 8-14. She is the second EC freshman to receive the weekly award in less than a month.

Byard helped the Red Devils defeat conference rival Fontbonne University for the first time in nine tries last week with her first career double-double. She totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds in Eureka's 69-52 win over the Griffins. She made 8-of-14 field goal attempts and 7-of-9 tries at the free throw line. The 6-1 forward and her teammates controlled the lane, outscoring Fontbonne 40-14 in points in the paint and holding the opposition to 18 percent field goal shooting.

"Lisa is from a great program at Morton High School," said Eureka head coach Abby Hearn. "She came in as a freshman ready to be a leader. She has been our most consistent player in games and at practice. Lisa has a winning attitude and she is one of our hardest workers day in and day out."

Earlier this season, Byard scored the most points in a game by an EC player since 1992 when she recorded 33 versus Concordia Chicago. She leads the Red Devils at 15.6 points/game and ranks second in field goal percentage (51.4) and rebounds (6.9 reb./game) through seven contests. The Red Devils next play Friday, December 19 at home versus Knox College in a 7:30 pm tip-off.

###

For More Information Contact:

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