Eureka Holds on, Tops Dominican for First Win, 57-52
EUREKA – The Eureka women's basketball team held on against Dominican and clinched a 57-52 victory in its home opener at Reagan Athletic Complex on Tuesday.
The win was the Red Devils' first of the season and the first under first-year head coach Mike Hedrick.
"It's always special to get your first anything," Hedrick said. "For the freshmen to get their first win in college, for the seniors to get their first home game win of their last season, and for myself to get my first win as coach at Eureka is fantastic. I'm proud of the girls.
"Every person on the team played tonight – and contributed. We had every bit of adversity, and we didn't falter. We just kept with the program and we made the plays we had to."
Junior guard Hannah Burkiett (Elmwood, Ill./Elmwood) recorded her first career double-double, posting a career-high 14 points and gathering a career-high 14 rebounds. She changed the game with her confident drives to the rim and also swiped a team-high five steals and was one of three Red Devils to finish with 14 points on the night.
Senior Avery Seidel (Wayne City, Ill./Wayne City/Lincoln Christian) and freshman Ashley Wilcox (Hudson, Ill./Normal West) both had 14 points. It was a career high as a Red Devil for Seidel. Wilcox bounced from a rough shooting night in the Red Devils' season opener and played with poise. She made a team-high 10 of 16 free throws – including a pair of big ones late – and dished a team-high three assists.
Josie Ness (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) pulled down nine rebounds and Makayla Rosenbery (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) had six.
The Red Devils had a slim lead early on. Seidel scored nine of the team's first 11 points as Eureka jumped out to an 11-9 lead in the first quarter.
The home team extended the lead to six in the third quarter and scored the first points of the third quarter to make it a double-digit lead. Burkiett made a jumper, then made a steal, which led to a 3-pointer by Seidel off an assist by Wilcox to make it 32-21.
Later, a layup by freshman Nevaeh Essien (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central) gave the Red Devils their largest lead of the night – 14 points with 5:28 remaining in the third quarter.
The Stars got it down to 10 heading into the finale frame, then made a late push to make things interesting down the stretch.
Dominican went on a 7-0 run to make it a six point game with a minute left. After Wilcox and Seidel both split a pair of free throws it was 55-47 with 49 seconds to play, but after the opposition took a time, Dominican's Kamryn Woods knocked down a triple to cut it to five. The Stars then locked up the Red Devils and forced a five-second team turnover, which gave way to a bucket by Kaitlyn Milison to make it a three-point game with 22 seconds remaining.
The Red Devils weathered the storm, though, forcing a turnover after committing one and forcing Dominican to start fouling.
Wilcox put away a pair of foul shots with 11 seconds remaining to make it 57-72 and Woods' last three-point try before regulation was no good, so the Red Devils were able to inbound the ball and walk with the win.
To Hedrick, it was a world of difference from the team's season-opening 68-36 loss at Mount Mary on Friday.
"I think Friday we were really trying to win the game," he said. "Today, we were worried about the process of each possession, and when we did that, it took the result out of mind, so when we made a mistake it didn't bother us as much, and it allowed us to make a mistake and keep playing."
The Red Devils (1-1) will look to keep it going next Tuesday when they face Monmouth (0-2) in non-conference action on the road at 5:30 p.m.
