Eureka Welcomes Greenville Saturday For SLIAC Crown
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EUREKA, Ill. -- The Eureka College women's basketball team will try to take the final step in its quest to earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth when the top-seeded Red Devils host second-seeded Greenville for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship, Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena.
TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS
The top four teams in the final SLIAC regular season standings -- Eureka, Greenville, Websterand 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 improved to 19-7 overall after an 86-55 drubbing of Fontbonne in Thursday's semifinal in Eureka. The Red Devils won the SLIAC regular-season crown with a 14-2 record and will try to become the 15th team in conference history to sweep the regular-season and tournament championships.
The Red Devils have 19 wins in a season for the first time since 2011-12 and the sixth time in 42 season of Eureka women's basketball. A win tomorrow would give Eureka its fourth 20-win season in program history.
Hayley Reneau, Michaela Balducci and Kerrigan Dura were named to the All-SLIAC Team and third-year head coach Steve Thompson was selected SLIAC Coach of the Year, according to an announcement by SLIAC Commissioner Angie Morenz at Thursday's league tournament at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena.
Reneau was chosen for the First Team. Balducci earned Second Team honors and Dura was named to the Third Team. Additionally, Balducci was tabbed for the SLIAC All-Defensive Team. Thompson is Eureka College's fifth SLIAC Coach of the Year in 11 seasons as a member of the league and the first in women's basketball since Taren Martin earned the honor in 2012.
Reneau leads the Red Devils with a scoring average of 14.0 points per game. She knocked down five 3-pointers Thursday, bumping her season total to 63, moving into fourth place on Eureka's single-season list and 10th place on the all-time Eureka list. She also added three steals to get to 72 on the season, eighth-most in a season in program history.
Dura recorded seven assists Thursday and now has 130 on the year, 18 shy of Deb Kessinger's single-season Eureka record of 148.
Eureka was picked to finish sixth in the SLIAC, according to a coaches' poll released before the start of the season.
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 is 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.
Including Thursday's win, EC is 3-5 all-time at 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 ROLL PAST FONTBONNE IN THURSDAY SEMIFINAL
Hayley Reneau delivered a game-high 19 points, one of five Red Devils to score in double figures, lifting EC to an 86-55 win over Fontbonne in the 2017 SLIAC Tournament semifinals, Thursday night at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena.
Eureka never trailed Thursday. A steal and a 3-pointer by Reneau in the first minute of the contest put the rout in motion. The EC advantage promptly ballooned to double digits when Michaela Balducci scored inside for a 15-4 lead at the 4:29 mark of the quarter. EC led by as many as 13 in the frame when Luci Weis buried a 3 just before the buzzer for a 22-9 lead.
Fontbonne never threatened the Red Devils' advantage in the final three quarters. The EC lead was 39-26 at halftime and 63-35 after 30 minutes.
Balducci had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Weis came off the bench for 16 points. Kennedy Dura logged 11 points and seven assists and Ashley Harfst tacked on 10 points.
Thursday's 31-point margin of victory was Eureka's biggest in eight previous SLIAC Tournament games and the largest in any SLIAC Tournament semifinal since Westminster beat Webster 69-34 in 2012.
ABOUT GREENVILLE
Greenville topped Webster in the first semifinal on Thursday, 61-52, to advance to the championship game. The Panthers are 18-8, finished second in the final league standings with a 12-4 record and will try to win back-to-back SLIAC Tournament championships after winning last season's title in Fulton, Mo.
Senior guard Taylor Paulin was picked for the All-SLIAC First Team and junior forward Laura Goodnight secured a spot on the All-SLIAC Second Team. Paulin is one of the league's top 3-point shooters, making 53 triples and a 43 percent clip this season. She also ranks seventh in the conference with 54 steals. Goodnight averaged 11.0 points and 4.8 boards per game.
As a team, Greenville leads the SLIAC in 3-point field percentage (.368) and rebounding margin (+7.0). The Panthers score 71.9 points on average, third-most in the league.
SLIAC coaches picked the Panthers to finish second in the league this season, trailing only Spalding. Last season's SLIAC Tournament crown was Greenville's first in seven trips to the event since 1998. The Panthers finished second in the final league standings a year ago and have won only one regular-season title (1997) since joining the league in 1995.
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.
The 2016-17 season is Roy Mulholland's 18th as head coach at Greenville. The 1986 Greenville graduate is 242-228 overall.
Mulholland is the Greenville College physical education department chair. Prior to his arrival at GC, Mulholland coached girls basketball at Greenville High School for 13 years and own the GHS record for all-time coaching wins.
SERIES VERSUS GREENVILLE
The Red Devils own a 33-20 record in 53 previous meetings with the Panthers since 1983. Included in that stretch is an 11-11 mark since becoming league rivals prior to the 2006-07 campaign.
Eureka is 19-8 at home in the last 27 meetings. Eureka has won nine of the last 12 over GC since Nov. 30, 2011, but split the home-and-home series in each of the last two seasons.
LAST TIME VERSUS GREENVILLE
In front of a near-capacity crowd for Alumni Day at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena on Feb. 11, Greenville earned a 66-64 league win over Eureka.
Greenville and Eureka played to nine ties and 12 lead changes. Neither team led by more than eight points. The Red Devils overcame a slow start and promptly secured their largest lead of the afternoon, 10-6, after a 3-pointer from Hayley Reneau with 4:39 left in the opening period.
The Panthers led 13-12 after one quarter. Neither side led by more than a possession in the second quarter. Kelly Lenz made two free throws to break a 29-29 tie with 2:30 left in the half, as both sides were scoreless over the remainder of the frame for a 31-29 GC lead at the break.
GC opened the second half with a 10-4 surge, claiming its biggest advantage of the game on Lenz's layup for a 41-33 cushion. Eureka quickly responded with an 8-0 run and pulled even, 41-41, on Reneau's jumper with 4:28 left in the quarter. GC regained a 50-47 lead after three quarters.
The Red Devils managed to pull even as late as the 2:44 mark of the final quarter when Michaela Balducci split two free throws for a 62-62 tie. Greenville's Laura Goodnight answered with a 3-pointer to lead 65-62 with 1:56 left and the Panthers wouldn't trail again.
A Reneau layup sliced the EC deficit to 65-64 nine seconds left. GC went on split two free throws to push its lead to two, but Eureka couldn't beat the horn on the ensuing possession in its attempt to win the game.
Reneau scored 17 points and hauled down six rebounds. Balducci added 14 points and four steals. Lexi Dooley collected 10 rebounds.
FOLLOW THE CHAMPIONSHIP ONLINE
Links to a live video stream and live statistics of the championship game 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.
