Spalding Outlasts Eureka, 65-46
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Eureka women's basketball team came up short at Spalding on Saturday, falling 65-46 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
The Red Devils were within striking distance for most of the afternoon, but the home team shot 58 percent in the fourth quarter and found some separation down the stretch.
Eureka's Ashley Wilcox (Hudson, Ill./Normal West) finished with a team-high 12 points, along with five rebounds and a steal in 38 minutes.
Josie Ness (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) recorded her fourth double-double of the season, tallying 11 points and 13 rebounds, plus three steals and three assists. It was the SLIAC's leading rebounder's sixth straight game of recording 12 boards or more.
Avery Seidel (Wayne City, Ill./Wayne City/Lincoln Christian) hit a pair of 3s and added 10 points in 28 minutes off the bench.
After a close first quarter, Spalding scored the first nine points of the second quarter to take the first double-digit lead of the game.
The Red Devils trailed by as many as 14 and went into halftime down 12 after a putback by Katie Haffner (Lake Camelot, Ill./Illini Bluffs/Illinois College).
Midway through the third quarter, a six-point swing brought the Red Devils within six. Seidel scored on a second-chance opportunity, Ness hit a jumper on an assist by Seidel and Seidel scored off an aggressive drive to make it 33-27 with 5:06 left in the frame.
Spalding's Nicole Hollowell answered with a pair of 3s to stretch it back to double digits. The Red Devils kept pushing and a jumper by Seidel at the end of the quarter made it a 43-33.
After that, the Golden Eagles got hot in the fourth and put the game away.
Hollowell finished with 3 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points, while Isis Rodgers and Riana Caldwell posted 12 and 10 points, respectively.
On Wednesday, Eureka (3-5, 1-2 SLIAC) will return to Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center to host Blackburn (2-7, 0-3 SLIAC) at 5:30 p.m. The Red Devils previously opened SLIAC season with a 71-56 win over the Beavers a week ago.