Posted: Feb 05, 2018
Preview: Eureka Closes Non-League Slate Monday at Monmouth
MONMOUTH, Ill. -- The Eureka College women's basketball team will aim for its first victory at Monmouth since November 2001 when the Red Devils visit the Fighting Scots Monday night at 7:30 p.m. inside Glennie Gymnasium. Monday's game against MC is the Red Devils' final regular-season non-conference game this season.
PDF Version of Eureka Women's Basketball Game Notes
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka will play its third road contest in three states over a six-day period. The Red Devils, who have dropped back-to-back games to begin the road trip for the first time since November, own a 14-7 record and can earn their fifth 15-win campaign in the last seven seasons with a win on Monday.
Hayley Reneau will enter Monday's tilt with 495 points this season, five shy of becoming just the third player in program history to reach 500 in a single campaign. All-time leading scorer Caty Eeten scored 500 in three consecutive seasons (2011-14), including a school-record 594 as a sophomore in 2011-12, and Sherry Bryan tallied 583 in 1985-86. Reneau has 882 career points and will have a chance to become the program's 17th 1,000-point scorer and the first to do so in only two seasons.
Reneau will also challenge Eureka's single-season record for 3-pointers. Her 69 triples this winter are nine behind the program's record of 78 set by Emily Camden in 2014-15.
Kennedy Dura has an opportunity to break Eureka's single-season assist record Monday night. Dura, who set a new Eureka freshman record with 105 assists last season, has 143 as a sophomore in 2017-18. The single-season program record is 148, set by Deb Kessinger in 1990-91.
Eight letterwinners return from Eureka's 20-win team that swept the the SLIAC regular season and tournament championships and went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Seven of the returnees played in at least 27 games and four started at least 14 contests.
SPALDING PULLS AWAY TO BEAT EUREKA SATURDAY
All five Eureka starters scored in double figures, led by 19 points from Hayley Reneau, but Spalding limited the Red Devils to two field goals in the fourth quarter on its way to an 84-73 SLIAC victory over EC in Louisville, Ky.
The score was tied 62-62 after three quarters. Spalding scored on its first possession of the fourth quarter, part of an 8-0 run that covered more than three minutes and the SU lead remained two possessions or more for the remainder of the contest. Eureka went cold from the floor and didn't make its first field goal of the fourth quarter until the 1:56 mark.
Lexi Dooley finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Devils' only double-double. Kennedy Dura scored 13 and distributed seven assists.
ABOUT MONMOUTH
Monmouth is 7-13 this season. The Scots dropped a 57-47 decision at St. Norbert on Saturday, but have won back-to-back home games since Jan. 27 and own a 5-5 mark on their home floor.
Carley Turnbull leads the MC offense with a scoring average of 11.2 points per game. She shoots 46 percent from the floor and also collects a team-best 5.5 rebounds per game. Becca Gallis adds 11.1 points per game despite making just nine starts. Turnbull and Gallis are two of only three players to have appeared in all 20 games this season and no player has started all 20 for MC.
Tia Robertson gives MC three players scoring in double figures with a 10.1 average. Monmouth leads the Midwest Conference with a team scoring average of 65.7 points per game.
The Scots went 4-19 last season and were picked eighth in a preseason Midwest Conference coaches' poll. Eight letterwinners, including all five starters, return from last season's team that went 4-14 in MWC action last winter.
THE SERIES AGAINST MONMOUTH
Monmouth boasts a 23-18 record against the Red Devils since 1983, including an 8-5 mark at home in the last 13 bouts in Glennie Gymnasium. MC has won four in a row at home against the Red Devils since Eureka's 66-65 win over the Scots on Nov. 27, 2001. Monday's game represents Eureka's first trip to Monmouth since Nov. 25, 2009.
LAST TIME VERSUS MONMOUTH
Hayley Reneau tallied a career-high 41 points and Kennedy Dura tacked on her first collegiate double-double with 20 points and 11 assists, driving the Red Devils to a 91-78 non-conference victory over Monmouth at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena on Nov. 21, 2017.
Reneau's 41 points were second-most in a game by a Red Devil and trailed only Caty Eeten's 49-point outburst in a 117-98 victory over Knox on Nov. 17, 2011. Dura was 6-for-13 from the field a perfect 7-for-7 from the line to aid the Red Devils' 21-for-27 effort from the charity stripe. Eureka shot 43 percent (30-for-70) from the field and was credited with an assist on 25 of its 30 baskets. The 13-point margin of victory was Eureka's largest over Monmouth since a 70-54 win during the 1994-95 season.
Keri Dodson scored 25 points to lead MC. The Scots shot 44 percent from the field and outrebounded the Red Devils 44-40 but committed 20 turnovers.
MEET THE HEAD COACHES
Amos Arbogast is in his first season as head coach of the Red Devils. He was selected as the 12th head coach in program history on July 6, 2017.
Arbogast had previously served the EC men's basketball program as an assistant coach for six seasons and played pivotal role as an assistant for a program that has proved to be an annual contender in the SLIAC. Arbogast helped guide the Red Devils to consecutive berths to the SLIAC Tournament semifinals in 2012 and 2013, including an appearance in the title game in 2013.
Kyle Wilson is the 11th head coach in Monmouth women's basketball history and enters his third season at MC. The 2005 Hanover graduate owns a 16-50 record directing the Scots.
Wilson got his start as an assistant in Division III before taking the same position at a pair of Division II schools before coming to Monmouth. In all, he owns more than a decade of collegiate coaching experience.