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For Immediate Release
Women's Basketball -- Feb. 16, 2011
Blackburn Overcomes Eureka in Overtime, 71-66
EUREKA, Ill. – Eureka College freshman Caty Eeten (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) continued her rapid scoring pace with a career-high 36 points during Wednesday night’s St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Blackburn, but the Beavers tied the game with 14 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and outscored the Red Devils 11-6 in the extra session to grind out a 71-66 league win at the Reagan Center.
The Red Devils (7-15, 3-11 SLIAC) held a three-point lead, 60-57, after Eeten buried a pair of foul shots with 26 seconds left in regulation. On Blackburn’s ensuing possession, Taheera Ali found Keshia Moore with a pass on the left wing, allowing Moore to drill a 3-pointer to force a 60-60 tie with 14 seconds left. Blackburn (10-14, 9-6 SLIAC) called its final timeout immediately after the basket, but Eureka was unable to get a shot off on the ensuing possession before the horn, forcing overtime.
In the extra period, Moore struck again on Blackburn’s first possession with another 3-pointer from the same spot that tied the game in the final minute of regulation. The Red Devils promptly answered with a triple from freshman guard Amanda Schreck (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville H.S.) for a 63-63 tie, but the visitors took the lead for good when Kariann Hill made Blackburn’s sixth 3-pointer of the night with 2:34 left in overtime for a 66-63 lead. Eeten made her 13th and final field goal of night to cut the Eureka deficit back to one (66-65) before Blackburn closed the overtime period on a 5-1 run to hold on for the win.
Blackburn held a 10-4 lead just five minutes into the game before Eureka began chipping away at its deficit. Eeten’s layup with 8:06 left before halftime gave the Red Devils their first lead of the night, 14-13. After trading the lead two more times with the Beavers, Eureka ended the half on a 9-0 run behind four more points from Eeten and the Red Devils carried a 29-21 lead into halftime.
The Red Devils led by as many as 11 points in the second half, 50-39, on two free throws from Schreck with 7:55 left in regulation. Blackburn recovered and eventually regained the lead for the first time since the 2:40 mark of the first half on Ali’s layup with 2:28 remainining in the second half for a 57-56 advantage. Eeten proceeded to make four straight foul shots over the next two minutes before Moore’s heroics forced overtime.
Eeten’s effort easily surpassed her previous career-high of 26 points on Jan. 22, also set against Blackburn, and came within four points of matching the Eureka single-game school record of 40 points set by Sherry Bryan during the 1985-86 season. She also tied a career-high with 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double. Schreck drilled four 3-point baskets, the most by a Eureka player since late December, en route to a career-high 14 points. Junior forward Khassandrae Brown (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S./Kankakee) added 12 points.
Blackburn’s win, coupled with Greenville’s loss at Fontbonne Wednesday night, gives the Beavers a 1.5 game lead over the Panthers for the final berth in the SLIAC Tournament scheduled for later this month in Fulton, Mo. Blackburn can clinch the spot with a win in its regular season finale against Fontbonne this Saturday or with a Greenville loss in either of the Panthers’ final two regular season games. The Beavers and Panthers split their season series.
Eureka will visit SLIAC leader Westminster this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Fulton, Mo. The Blue Jays have already locked up the regular season SLIAC title and need two more wins to become the first unbeaten SLIAC champion since Maryville in 2008-09.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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