Eureka continues impressive run with victory over Webster
EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka College women's basketball team continued to roll up the conference victories, winning their fifth straight in a decisive 69-57 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference triumph over the Webster Gorloks, Saturday afternoon inside the Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center.
The win moves Eureka to 8-11 overall and 7-5 in conference play. Webster falls to 9-10 overall and 6-6 in league action. The Red Devils' five straight victories are the most since the 2013-14 squad rallied off six straight throughout the month of January.
Scoring was sparse and the leads were close over the first half of play, with each team scoring 14 points in each of the first two quarters and a pair of four-point leads by the Gorloks in the first and second quarter marking the largest lead of the half.
After each exchanging leads over the first six minutes of the third quarter, EC used a 7-0 run by junior Michaela Balducci (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) to race in front, 44-38. Senior Emily Camden (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) hit her 192nd 3-pointers to close the quarter with Eureka ahead, 49-42.
Eureka's lead continued to swell in the final quarter, reaching as high as 16 (66-50) with 50 seconds left.
Balducci paced the host with a game-high 19 points, shooting 6-of-9 (.667) from the field and 7-of-11 (.636) from the free throw line. The forward added six rebounds and four assists to fill up the box score.
Camden added 17 points, six boards and three assists. She now sits at 991 career points, 9 points shy of 1,000 for her career. The sharp-shooting guard added a trio of treys in the victory to bring her career total to 193. She is now three 3-point field goals shy of breaking the women's all-time record for three-point field goals made in a career held by Brittany Gardner (195).
Webster's Nadine Vaughn scored a team-high 14 points and hauled in 12 rebounds for the visitors.
EC held the Gorloks to 2-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc and forced 19 WU turnovers.
Whats Next?
Eureka hits the road Wednesday with a conference showdown in Jacksonville, Ill. Tip-off against the MacMurray Highlanders is set for 6 p.m.