North Park Pulls Away to Down Eureka, 68-48

CHICAGO, Ill. – The Eureka College women's basketball team trailed host North Park by only four points at halftime of Monday's non-conference game in Chicago, Ill., but the Vikings used a strong second half to earn a 68-48 over the Red Devils. EC sophomore Lexi Dooley (Sutter, Ill./Warsaw H.S.) put up another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

North Park never trailed and led Monday's for all but 48 seconds. The Vikings scored six of the first seven points of the game and led 15-7 at the end of the first quarter.

After falling into a 13-point hole, Eureka closed the half on a high note thanks to a 20-11 run over the final 8:45. Dooley's layup with 21 seconds remaining brought the visitors within two (29-27) before NPU took a 31-27 cushion into halftime.

The hosts opened the second half with a 12-4 burst, opening up a 43-31 lead with 4:33 left in the third quarter. NPU would lead by double digits for the remainder of the game.

Dooley went 5-for-12 from the field and knocked down her only 3-point field goal attempt of the day. Junior guard Hayley Reneau (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S./Illinois Central) added nine points. The Red Devils struggled from the floor, shooting 18-for-65 for the game and 5-for-26 from 3-point range.

Liz Rehberger scored nearly half of the Vikings' points, finishing with 32 points. Shaylee Sloan collected a game-high 11 rebounds.

Eureka will break for the holiday and return to campus Jan. 1 for a 2 p.m. tip-off against Rust (Miss.) at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena. The game against the Bearcats is Eureka's final non-conference game of the regular season.