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For Immediate ReleaseWomen's Basketball -- Jan. 16, 2012
Eureka Completes Season Sweep of Spalding, 82-69
EUREKA, Ill. – Eureka College senior forward Khassandrae Brown (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S./Kankakee) recorded her second consecutive double-double with game-highs of 29 points and 16 rebounds, sending the Red Devils to their first-ever St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of Spalding, 82-69, Monday night at the Reagan Center.
Eureka (11-3, 5-2 SLIAC) got a quick start behind a pair of baskets from junior guard Jay Stewart (Taylorville, Ill./Taylorville H.S./Illinois State) for an early 9-2 advantage in the first three minutes of the game. Spalding (8-8, 4-5 SLIAC) slowly chipped away at its early deficit and took its first lead of the game, 18-16, on a layup from Megan Davis with 10:07 left before halftime. Davis’s basket was part of an 11-0 run by the visitors. The Red Devils regrouped and ultimately regained the lead, 30-28, after Stewart’s 3-pointer, but the Golden Eagles used a 9-1 blitz over the final 5:04 of the half to carry a 37-31 lead into halftime.
Spalding took its largest lead of the night, 40-31, when Melinda Leavell hit a 3-pointer on SU’s first possession of the second half. The Red Devils roared right back, using a 17-3 run that covered more than six minutes and included a go-ahead 3-pointer from sophomore guard Kiley Bugaieski (Tremont, Ill./Tremont H.S.) at the 15:27 mark.
The hosts maintained the advantage in the second half until Tesha Wright’s layup forced a 65-65 tie with 5:23 left, but Brown answered with a layup on the ensuing EC possession to give the Red Devils the lead for the rest of the game. Eureka, aided by nine points and clutch free throw shooting from sophomore guard Caty Eeten (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.), outscored Spalding 12-2 over the final 3:39 of the contest. The final 13-point margin was Eureka’s largest lead of the night.
Eureka shot 47 percent (25-for-53) for the game and was especially accurate after halftime. The Red Devils knocked down 16 of their 24 shot attempts in the second half, including four of eight 3-point tries. Brown collected five of her 16 rebounds at the offensive end and ultimately bumped her season rebounding average to a SLIAC-best 9.6. Eeten finished the game with 23 points, while Stewart added a career-best 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Eeten and Stewart each distributed a game-high five assists.
Monday’s victory was Eureka’s second over Spalding in less than two weeks and improved Eureka to 5-2 in the SLIAC, the Red Devils’ best seven-game start to the conference schedule since joining the league prior to the 2006-07 season. The win was also Eureka’s 10th of the campaign, giving the Red Devils double-digit victories in a season for the first time since winning 11 contests in 2006-07. The Red Devils still have 11 regular season games remaining for 2011-12.
Eureka will continue its busy stretch of SLIAC games this Wednesday in a 6 p.m. start at Blackburn in Carlinville, Ill.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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