Eureka to Visit Webster Saturday in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, Mo -- Following a 14-day stretch that included semester exams and a non-conference road trip to Chicago, the Eureka College women's basketball team will resume St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday in a 1 p.m. matchup at Webster in St. Louis, Mo. Saturday's game has been selected as the SLIAC Game of the Week.
PDF Version of Eureka Game Notes
AT A GLANCE
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Site: Grant Gymnasium (1,000)
Series Since 1983: Webster leads 15-11
Series in St. Louis Since 1983: Webster leads 8-4
Last Meeting: Eureka won 69-57, Jan. 30, 2016 in Eureka, Ill. (Box Score)
Last 10 Meetings: Webster leads 6-4
Current Streak: Eureka W1
Thompson vs. Webster: 2-2
EUREKA RED DEVILS
Record: 5-4, 2-0 SLIAC
Head Coach: Steve Thompson, 3rd season (Wooster '01)
WEBSTER GORLOKS
Record: 7-1, 2-0 SLIAC
Head Coach: Jordan Olufson, 9th season (Ashford '06)
FOLLOW THE GAME
Live Video: websterathletics.com
Live Stats: websterathletics.com
Twitter Updates: @EurekaGameDay, @GorlokSports
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka is 5-4 overall and 2-0 in the SLIAC. The 2-0 start to league action is Eureka's first since the 2013-14 campaign and the first time in 11 seasons as a member of the SLIAC the Red Devils have opened 2-0 with back-to-back road victories.
Eureka boasts a balanced offensive attack -- no player averages more than 12.9 points per game and six players score at least 7.6 points per contest. Senior forward Michaela Balducci leads the Red Devils in scoring with a 12.9 scoring average, followed closely by junior guard Hayley Reneau at 12.6. Balducci is also the Red Devils' top rebounder, pulling down 8.2 boards per game.
The Red Devils are a threat from beyond the arc, knocking down 8.7 3-pointers per game to lead the SLIAC and rank 15th in the country. EC's team 3-point field percentage of .336 ranks second among league schools and 75th in Division III.
In addition to the Red Devils' offensive firepower, EC has been a force at the defensive end of the floor as well. Eureka averages 3.6 blocked shots per game to lead the SLIAC. Additionally, the Red Devils limit opponents to a .375 field goal percentage and a .276 3-point field goal percentage, both marks ranking in the top half of the league.
Eureka was picked to finish sixth in the SLIAC, according to a coaches' poll released before the start of the season.
SHARING THE ROCK
Eureka will enter Saturday's game at Webster as the national leader with 185 assists, according to the most recent NCAA Division III statistical report released on Dec. 13. The Red Devils' 20.6 assists per game ranks fourth nationally and their 1.11 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 31st.
Junior guard Kerrigan Dura leads EC with 5.0 assists per game, an average that ranks second in the SLIAC and 25th in Division III. Dura's 2.25 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the conference and ranks 42nd nationally.
LUCI ... FROM DOWNTOWN
Senior guard Luci Weis continued her match through the Eureka record book on Monday, connecting on a pair of 3-point field goals to move into fourth place on the Red Devils' all-time list.
The Bloomington, Ill. native now has 122 career triples, moving in front of Sarah Taylor (1994-98) for fourth place. Weis can tie Kara Smith (1987-90) for third place with another 13 3-pointers this season. Weis's former teammate, Emily Camden (2012-16), set the program's all-time record last season and finished her four-year career with 213 3-pointers.
Weis, who is on pace to crack Eureka's all-time top-10 list in games played, is one of only two four-year players on the EC roster.
ABOUT WEBSTER
Webster owns a 7-1 overall record and shares first place in the current SLIAC standings with Eureka with an unblemished 2-0 mark. The Gorloks will bring a four-game win streak into Saturday's bout and haven't lost since an 82-69 setback versus CCIW power Augustana on Nov. 26, WU's only defeat of the season.
Three of Webster's seven victories have come versus non-NCAA schools, including a 106-24 drubbing of Robert Morris-Springfield on Dec. 5 and an 83-41 rout of Robert Morris-Peoria just two days later. The Gorloks have outscored their five NCAA Division III opponents by an average of 11.4 points per contest.
Junior guard Kelsey Miller is the only Gorlok to reach double figures in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per contest. WU receives steady contributions from nine different players that average at least 4.8 points per game. Junior forward Aley Lucas hauls down a team-high 5.3 rebounds per contest.
Like Eureka, Webster ranks among the national leaders in assists. The Gorloks' 20.8 assists per game lead the SLIAC and rank third nationally as of Dec. 13. WU also leads the SLIAC in scoring offense (83.1), scoring defense (54.4), and steals per game (20.4)
Webster is also an excellent free throw shooting team, successfully knocking down foul shots 80.9 percent of the time, the second-highest mark in the nation. The Gorloks make 15.4 free throws per game, most in the SLIAC.
The Gorloks were picked fifth in the SLIAC in a preseason coaches' poll. Webster has missed the SLIAC Tournament each of the last two seasons after qualifying for five straight league tournaments from 2010 through 2014, including the 2011 tournament crown.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACHES
Steve Thompson will begin his third season as head coach of the Red Devils.
Since taking the reins of the program in 2014, Thompson has built on the Red Devils' sustained success and guided EC to the SLIAC Tournament in each of his first two seasons, including a title game appearance in 2015.
In addition to his role with the Eureka women's basketball program, Thompson has served EC as Director of Athletics since Jan. 2, 2014. Thompson has more than a decade of administrative experience in collegiate athletics, including five years at NCAA Division III Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Jefferson City, Mo. native Jordan Olufson is in his ninth season as the head coach at Webster. Olufson guided the Gorloks to a SLIAC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2011. His nine-year record at WU is 118-99. He is the program's all-time winningest coach.
Olufson came to Webster after a stint as an assistant coach at Central Missouri. He played collegiately for Missouri Valley and Ashford before earning an undergraduate degree in sports and recreation management from AU in 2006 and a master's degree from Central Missou
SERIES VERSUS WEBSTER
The Red Devils and Gorloks are meeting for the 27th time on Saturday. Webster leads the series 15-11, including a13-9 mark since becoming SLIAC rivals in 2007.
WU has won the last three matchups in St. Louis and is 8-4 all-time against Eureka in St. Louis. Eureka's last win over WU in St. Louis was a 69-64 victory on Jan. 26, 2013. No player on the Eureka roster has won a game over the Gorloks in St. Louis.
In addition to the annual home-and-home series, Webster eliminated the Red Devils in the SLIAC Tournament semifinals in 2013 and again in 2014.
Prior to Eureka joining the SLIAC in 2006, Eureka and Webster split four non-conference meetings between 1989 and 2000. The Red Devils won the first-ever meeting in the series, an 80-29 decision during the 1989-90 season.
FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE
Webster will provide a live video broadcast and live statistics of Saturday's game. Visit websterathletics.com to access the services or click the links available at EurekaRedDevils.com.
The Eureka College media relations staff will provide updates throughout the game via Twitter at @EurekaGameDay.
LAST TIME VERSUS WEBSTER
Eureka defeated Webster 69-57 at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena on Jan. 30, 2016.
After each exchanging leads over the first six minutes of the third quarter, EC used a 7-0 run from Michaela Balducci to race in front, 44-38. Emily Camden hit her 192nd career 3-pointer 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 stat sheet. Camden added 17 points, six boards and three assists. She added three treys
Webster's Nadine Vaughn scored a team-high 14 points and hauled in 12 rebounds.
EC held the Gorloks to 2-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc and forced 19 WU turnovers.