Eureka Falls Short at Westminster in SLIAC Tourney Opener, 73-60
FULTON, Mo. – The Eureka women's basketball team fell short 73-60 against Westminster in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The sixth-seeded Red Devils were within five of the third-seeded Blue Jays heading into the fourth quarter, but the home team pulled away in the final frame to secure the win.
In her final game as a Red Devil, senior Abby Stotler (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County/MacMurray) tied her season-high in scoring with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. She also gathered seven rebounds, had two steals and one steal.
Fellow senior Shakaya Rogers (Hanover, Mich./Concord/Glen Oaks) tallied nine points, six rebounds and two assists, while sophomore Josie Ness (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) posted nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds, along with two blocks.
Freshman Reece Putrich (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central) also had nine points, hitting 3 treys in the first quarter. Sophomore Jurnee Flournoy (Decatur, Ill./Decatur MacArthur) contributed eight points.
Senior and leading scorer Sydney Hannam (Canton, Ill./Canton/Spoon River) had a frustrating final game of a terrific season and collegiate career, finishing with three points and three boards in just 20 minutes of play due to foul trouble. She picked up her third foul early in the third quarter, was given her fourth with 7:39 remaining in the third and fouled out in the final minute of the game.
Senior Savanah Moore (Clinton, Ill./Mount Pulaski/MacMurray) recorded six rebounds, two assists and two points in her final game in maroon and gold. Madi Jernigan (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Blackburn), another valuable senior of Eureka's veteran-led squad, was unable to play in the Red Devils' last game due to injury.
Eureka was within striking distance for most of the night.
The Red Devils hit three 3-pointers and jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes of play. After that, though, Westminster settled in and ended the first quarter with a 20-3 run to take a nine-point lead into the second quarter.
Eureka kept fighting, trimmed the lead to five with a big 3-point play by Rogers with 1:52 left in the first half and did it again with a jumper by Stotler with 13 seconds until halftime.
The team was within five points following a half in which they outshot the Blue Jays from the field, recording a 44 percent field goal percentage to Westminster's 30 percent. However, the home team got to the line and made 13-of-15 foul shots to Eureka's 4-of-7.
The Red Devils trailed by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but the team made up the difference, cutting the lead back down to five with an 8-0 at the end of the frame.
Rogers and Ness both hit 3-pointers and Heckman sank a jumper to make it 55-50 with 28 seconds left until the fourth.
Westminster's Shelby Kurtz and Eureka's Stotler traded baskets to begin the fourth, but then the Blue Jays came up with back-to-back buckets to push the lead to nine. Seven was the closest Eureka could come the rest of the way.
Eureka recorded a slightly better field-goal (41.1-40.0) and 3-point percentage (35.3-34.8) on the night, but the Blue Jays put away 17 of 20 free-throw attempts to EC's 8-of-13. The Red Devils also outrebounded the home team 38-35.
Westminster leading scorer Annette Ramirez finished with a team-high 17 points. Despite only shooting 3-for-10 from the field, she hit two 3s and went 9-for-10 from the field. Kurtz and Natalie Archambault followed with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The third-seeded Blue Jays (17-9) will face second-seeded Greenville (18-7) in the SLIAC Tournament semifinals at Webster on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Eureka completes the 2023-23 season with an 8-18 record and a 5-9 mark in SLIAC play. Despite battling injuries all season long, the Red Devils showed fight down the stretch and ended the year in the postseason for the third straight season.