Red Devils Ready to Host SLIAC Tournament

PDF Version of Eureka Game Notes

EUREKA, Ill. -- The Eureka College women's basketball team is back in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament for the sixth consecutive season and the first time as host when the top-seeded Red Devils welcome fourth-seeded Fontbonne for an 8 p.m. semifinal Thursday at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena. Second-seeded Greenville will square off against third-seeded Webster in a 6 p.m. semifinal Thursday night. The semifinal winners will play for the title Saturday at 1 p.m.

SLIAC TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS

The top four teams in the final SLIAC regular season standings -- Eureka, Greenville, Webster and Fontbonne -- have qualified for the league's annual postseason tournament.  The tournament winner will represent the SLIAC in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Eureka went 14-2 against SLIAC opponents to win the regular season-championship and the right to host the SLIAC Tournament for the first time.

SLIAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The upcoming event marks the 22nd SLIAC Tournament since the league began competition during the 1990-91 season.

Seven different teams have won at least one SLIAC Tournament title, six of which are still an active member of the league.  Blackburn has won a league-best six championships, including the first five crowns from 1991 through 1995.

Fontbonne will be in the field for the first time since 2012 and makings its 18th overall appearance, the most by any member school.  The Griffins own the all-time lead with 20 wins at the event.  Blackburn has posted the tournament's best historic win percentage at .739 (17-6).

Greenville won last season's tournament, winning at top-seeded Westminster to earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament trip.

THE SLIAC IN THE BIG DANCE

The SLIAC is a combined 5-19 in the NCAA Division III Tournament since the league first received a bid in 1996.  Fontbonne (2001) and Webster (2002) have each qualified for the Sweet 16, the deepest any SLIAC team has advanced in the NCAA field.

ABOUT EUREKA

Eureka went 18-7 overall and 14-2 in the SLIAC to win the regular-season league title, the Red Devils' first in any team sport since joining the conference in 2006.

The Red Devils' 18 wins represent their highest win total since going 21-5 during the 2011-12 season. EC has won 18 games or more nines times in the 42-season history of the program.

Junior guard Hayley Reneau will enter her first SLIAC Tournament as the Red Devils' leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game to rank second among SLIAC players. She also leads the league with 34 blocked shots and ranks second with 69 steals. Additionally, her 58 3-pointers are fifth-most in a season in Eureka women's basketball history.

Eureka also receives heavy offensive contributions from senior Micheala Balducci and junior Kerrigan Dura. Balducci scores 11.8 points per game and is the active Eureka leader with 840 career poinst and 555 career rebounds. Dura has poured 9.8 points per game this season. She ranks 23rd nationally with 123 assists, third-most in single-season Eureka history and 25 assists shy of Deb Kessinger's record of 148 set during the 1990-91 season.

Several other key contributors have helped EC to its first league title since 1991. Senior Luci Weis, who ranks third in program history with 145 3-pointers and seventh in program history with 103 career appearances, comes off the bench to score 9.2 points per game. Freshman Kennedy Dura has appeared in all 25 games this season and her 90 assists are a Eureka freshman record.

The Red Devils will look to build on their 10-2 record at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena this season. Eureka has outscored its opponents at home this season by an average of 10.9 points per game and shoots 44 percent from the field. Additionally, EC is 25-12 at home under third-year head coach Steve Thompson and 17-9 since the renovation of the Reagan Athletic Complex in the summer of 2015.

Eureka was picked to finish sixth in the SLIAC, according to a coaches' poll released before the start of the season.

EUREKA'S CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TRENDS

This weekend's SLIAC Tournament marks the 11th conference tournament appearance for the Red Devils since beginning an exclusive affiliation with NCAA Division III in 1996. It is also the Red Devils' sixth straight SLIAC Tournament bid, the longest active streak for any SLIAC member school.

Eureka will be in search of its first-ever national tournament appearance.  The Red Devils fell one game short of an NAIA Tournament appearance in 1994, losing 93-60 to Indiana Tech in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in Fort Wayne, Ind.

EC is 2-5 in five previous trips to the SLIAC's annual postseason tournament, making championship game appearances in 2012 and 2015. The Red Devils' 63-56 semifinal win over Fontbonne in 2012 marked Eureka's first-ever win away from the Reagan Athletic Complex in a Division III conference tournament game.

Additionally, the Red Devils went 4-5 in five Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference Tournaments from 1999 through 2006.  Eureka advanced to the title game in 2005 before falling at Rockford, 81-46.

RED DEVILS WIN ON SENIOR DAY

Seniors Michaela Balducci and Luci Weis combined for 34 points Saturday in the Red Devils' 74-66 SLIAC victory over Iowa Wesleyan on Senior Day at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena.

The Red Devils led 21-19 after one quarter, but the visitors punched back with a solid second period. Darby Massner's 3-point play with 2:21 left before halftime extended IWU's lead to double digits, 38-26. The hosts recovered to trim its deficit to 40-35 thanks to back-to-back layups in the final 65 seconds of the half. IWU led 40-35 at intermission.

Facing the five-point deficit, Eureka roared back with a dominant third quarter. A 3-pointer from Kerrigan Dura pushed the Red Devils back in front, 45-44, part of a 27-8 blitz during the quarter. The advantage ballooned to as many as 15 points in the quarter when Weis scored for a 62-47 lead.

The Tigers pulled within six with 6:48 remaining. Eureka responded with a 9-2 run led by eight points or more the rest of the way.

Weis shared game-high honors with 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Balducci added 15 points and nine rebounds and Dura poured in 15 points to go along with seven assists. Lexi Dooley totaled 12 points to give the Red Devils four starters in double figures. Eureka outrebounded Iowa Wesleyan, 38-26.

ABOUT FONTBONNE

Fontbonne finished the season with a 13-12 mark and 9-7 league record. The Griffins used a five-game win streak from Jan. 25 through Feb. 11 to help secure their first SLIAC Tournament bid since 2012.

Kaitlynn Walker averages 12.6 points per game to lead Fontbonne in scoring.  The sophomore guard ranks sixth in the league with an .813 free throw percentage.

Senior Emily Haring will enter Thursday's game as the NCAA Division III leader with 190 assists. She is all-time SLIAC leader in career assists with 571.

The Griffins put up 62.7 poings per game, sixth-most in the conference. FU shoots 40 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3-point range and 69 percent from the free throw line. Fontbonne commits a league-low 16.7 turnovers per game.

One of only four active charter members of the SLIAC, the Griffins are the winningest women's basketball program in conference history with 273 all-time league wins. Fontbonne has been to a league-high 18 SLIAC Tournaments since the event began in 1991. The Griffins have won seven regular-season SLIAC titles, including at least a share of four in a row from 1998 through 2001. The Griffins have also claimed three SLIAC Tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2001.

The Griffins were picked seventh in a preseason SLIAC coaches' poll.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACHES

Steve Thompson is in 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 and two years at NCAA Division I Kent State.

Maureen Sias, a 2003 graduate of Fontbonne, is in her third season as head coach of the Griffins.  She is 32-43 overall, guiding FU to a sixth-place finish in 2014-15 and a seventh-place showing a year ago.

Sias played four seasons for the Griffins (1999-03) and holds the program's all-time record for free throw percentage (85%). She also served FU as an assistant coach for five seasons prior to being appointed head coach in 2014 and owns a master's degree from Fontbonne.

SERIES VERSUS FONTBONNE

EC and FU split their regular-season series in 2016-17. The Red Devils topped the Griffins in Eureka on Jan. 4, 61-57. FU returned the favor with a 67-62 triumph in St. Louis on Feb. 4.

Fontbonne owns a 16-11 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 2000. Since becoming SLIAC rivals in 2006, Fontbonne has a slim 12-10 advantage in 22 regular-season contests, but EC has won 10 of the last 13 meetings and four in a row over the Griffins at the Reagan Athletic Complex.

EC defeated FU for its first-ever SLIAC Tournament victory on Feb. 24, 2012.

LAST TIME VERSUS FONTBONNE

Kennedy Dura scored a career-high 17 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer with 2:13 left, but Fontbonne scored seven of the game's final nine points to earn a 67-62 SLIAC win over the Red Devils on Feb. 4 at Mabee Gymnasium in St. Louis, Mo. The decision snapped Eureka's 10-game conference win streak.

After Dura's 3 from the top of the key forced a 60-60 tie, Fontbonne regained a 62-60 lead on Emily Haring's bucket on the ensuing possession and wouldn't give up the lead again.

Eureka had one final chance to tie with possession trailing 64-62, but a turnover thwarted the opportunity before the Red Devils could attempt a game-tying or go-ahead field goal attempt. The Griffins made three of their final four free throw attempts to seal their victory.

FOLLOW THE TOURNAMENT ONLINE

Links to a live video stream and live statistics of all three tournament games will be available at EurekaRedDevils.com and sliac.org.

The Eureka College media relations staff will provide updates throughout the game via Twitter at @EurekaGameDay.