Red Devils Come Up Empty at Spalding, 80-68

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Eureka dropped an 80-68 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference bout at Spalding, Saturday afternoon at Columbia Gym in Louisville, Ky.

Olivia Falls (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington H.S.) paced the Eureka offense with 13 points. She added eight rebounds. Sierrah Seals (East Peoria, Ill./Metamora H.S.) scored 10 points and shared the team lead with four assists in her first collegiate start. Lexi Dooley (Sutter, Ill./Warsaw H.S.) logged 10 rebounds.

Spalding never trailed Saturday, scoring the first six points of the afternoon and building a nine-point lead (14-5) as early as the 7:06 mark of the first quarter. The Red Devils responded later in the frame and battled within two, 19-17, on Seals's steal and layup with 3:07 remaining in the frame. The bucket punctuated EC's 6-0 run, a stretch in which the Red Devils held the hosts scoreless for more than four minutes. SU led 22-17 at the end of the opening period.

The Golden Eagles built a 14-point lead in the second quarter, but Eureka used another nice run before the first-half horn. The Red Devils scored seven of the last eight points in the half, allowing SU to lead 45-38 at the break.

A third-quarter offensive lull doomed the visitors. EC was held without a field goal for a stretch of nearly four minutes, allowing SU to grab a 63-43 margin when Alex Martin scored with 4:38 to play in the quarter.

Eureka outscored the Golden Eagles 13-12 in the fourth quarter.

The Red Devils will return home next Saturday for a 1 p.m. SLIAC game against Westminster at the Reagan Athletic Complex.