Red Devils Return to the Road Saturday at MacMurray
PDF Version of Eureka Game Notes
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Following back-to-back home victories to begin 2017, the Eureka College women's basketball team will begin a four-game stretch of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference road contests when the Red Devils travel to Jacksonville, Ill. Saturday for a league matchup with the MacMurray Highlanders at 1 p.m.
AT A GLANCE
Date: Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017
Location: Jacksonville, Ill.
Site: Christine Bill Wall Gymnasium (1,500)
Series Since 1983: Eureka leads 40-5
Series in Jacksonville Since 1983: Eureka leads 18-3
Last Meeting: Eureka won 87-55, Feb. 3, 2016 in Jacksonville, Ill.
Last 10 Meetings: Eureka leads 10-0
Current Streak: Eureka W12
Thompson vs. MacMurray: 4-0
EUREKA RED DEVILS
Record: 8-5, 4-0 SLIAC
Head Coach: Steve Thompson, 3rd season (Wooster '01)
MacMURRAY HIGHLANDERS
Record: 1-10, 0-3 SLIAC
Head Coach: Derek James, 4th season (MacMurray '04)
FOLLOW THE GAME
TV: MC22 (Mediacom, Tape Delayed)
Live Video: YouTube.com
Live Stats: None
Twitter Updates: @EurekaGameDay, @MacMurraySports
ABOUT EUREKA
Eureka is 8-5 overall and 4-0 in the SLIAC to own sole possession of first place in the current league standings. The Red Devils' 4-0 league start, which includes a road victory at preseason league favorite Spalding, is their best since beginning conference-affiliated play exclusively at the NCAA Division III level in 1996. Eureka held dual membership between the NCAA and NAIA from 1978 until 1996.
Three Red Devils score in double figures on average. Junior Hayley Reneau (13.5), senior Michaela Balducci (11.8) and junior Kerrigan Dura (10.3) anchor the EC offense. All three players shoot 41 percent or better from the field.
Reneau also leads the Eureka defense, ranking second among league players with 17 blocked shots and third with 34 steals.
As a team, Eureka's 73.5 points per game rank third among SLIAC schools and 49th nationally. Most of the scoring has come from long range -- Eureka makes a league-high 8.0 3-pointers per game and shots 32.1 percent from beyond the arc, the second-highest mark in the SLIAC.
Eureka was picked to finish sixth in the SLIAC, according to a coaches' poll released before the start of the season.
REMAINING THE NATIONAL LEADER
The Jan. 5 NCAA national statistics update is out and Eureka remains the Division III leader in team assists with 252, sharing the national lead with Mount St. Vincent (N.Y.).
The Red Devils, who rank fourth nationally and second in the SLIAC with 19.4 assists per game, have four of their five starters rank among the national top 200 in assists. Kerrigan Dura ranks 15th with 65 assists, followed by sister Kennedy Dura (43 assists, 119th), Luci Weis (39 assists, 162nd) and Hayley Reneau (38 assists, 186th).
The current EC pace of 19.4 helpers per game puts the Red Devils on track to challenge the program's single-season team record of 470 assists. Eureka is on pace to finish the 25-game regular season with 487 assists.
BACK TO EVEN IN THE SLIAC
Eureka's 4-0 start to the conference schedule improved the Red Devils' all-time regular-season SLIAC record to 86-86 -- the first time the Red Devils haven't had more league losses than victories since owning a 11-11 mark early in the 2007-08 campaign.
Eureka is 61-29 in the league since the beginning of the 2011-12 season and has qualified for five straight SLIAC Tournament semifinals, the second-longest active streak among SLIAC member schools.
ABOUT MacMURRAY
MacMurray owns a 1-10 overall record and an 0-3 mark in SLIAC play. The Highlanders' lone win of the season was a 71-48 neutral-site decision over USCAA Robert Morris-Springfield on Dec. 10. MC has lost all nine games against NCAA Division III opponents this season and is in search of its first home victory since February 13, 2016.
Junior guard Liz Kruemmelbein leads the Highlanders in scoring with 10.9 points per game. She shoots 38 percent from the floor and has appeared in 10 of MC's 11 contests. Freshman forward Daneille Popis is the Highlander's leading rebounder with 5.6 boards per game. She also scores 7.9 points per contest.
The Highlanders score only 52.3 points per game to rank eighth out of nine SLIAC teams. MC ranks at or near the bottom of the league in most team statistical categories, including a league-worst 52 percent effort from the free throw line.
A preseason poll conducted by league coaches picked MacMurray to finish eight in the SLIAC this season.
MacMurray joins Blackburn, Fontbonne and Webster as active charter members of the SLIAC. MC won back-to-back regular-season league titles in 1995 and 1996 and the 1996 SLIAC Tournament crown, but hasn't qualified for the league's annual postseason tournament since 2006.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACHES
Steve Thompson is in his third season as head coach of the Red Devils.
Since taking the reins of the program in 2014, Thompson has built on the Red Devils' sustained success and guided EC to the SLIAC Tournament in each of his first two seasons, including a title game appearance in 2015.
In addition to his role with the Eureka women's basketball program, Thompson has served EC as Director of Athletics since Jan. 2, 2014. Thompson has more than a decade of administrative experience in collegiate athletics, including five years at NCAA Division III Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and two years at NCAA Division I Kent State.
Derek James is the head coach at MacMurray. His four-year record on the MC bench is 14-72.
The Port Byron, Ill. is a 2004 graduate of MacMurray and a member of the school's athletics hall of fame. He was a three-time All-SLIAC choice in men's basketball for the Highlanders and owns the all-time program record with 228 3-pointers. He was also a standout golfer at MC, earning SLIAC Player of the Year honors as in 2003.
SERIES VERSUS MacMURRAY
Eureka has dominated the series with the Highlanders, owning a 40-5 record in the series since 1983. The Red Devils have won 12 in a row MacMurray swept the home-and-home series in the 2009-10 season.
Additionally, the Red Devils are 18-3 against the Highlanders in Jacksonville, having won 15 of their last 16 contests at Bill Wall Gymnasium since the 1989-90 season.
MacMurray has been one of Eureka's most common opponents over the last four decades, previously competing as rivals in the NAIA Prairie Conference in the 1980s. The 45 matchups between the two schools since 1983 are the third-most for the Red Devils in that time frame, trailing only Blackburn (56 meetings) and Greenville (51 meetings).
LAST TIME VERSUS MacMURRAY
Emily Camden surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career in the first half and broke the all-time prorgram record for most 3-point field goals made, lifting the Red Devils to an 87-55 SLIAC win over MacMurray on Feb. 3, 2016.
Michaela Balducci led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, adding five rebounds and five steals.
EC shot 44.9 percent (31-of-69) from the field and knocked down 12-of-37 3-pointers (.324), while the Highlanders finished 19-of-53 (.358) from the field and just 4-of-16 (.250) from downtown. The Red Devils dished out 22 assists to committing only seven turnovers, while forcing 18 Highlander errors.
MC's Brianna Markusic scored 18 points to lead the hosts, ending the night 6-of-11 from the field.
FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE ...
MacMurray will provide a live video stream via its YouTube channel. Fans can search "MacMurray Athletics" on YouTube or click a direct link from EurekaRedDevils.com prior to tip-off.
The Eureka College media relations staff will provide updates throughout the game via Twitter at @EurekaGameDay.
... AND WATCH THE GAME ON TV
Saturday's game will be rebroadcasted five times on television on MC22, available to any Mediacom subscribers in Illinois outside of the Quad Cities.
Nathan Baliva and Sam Ostrowski will have the call from Jacksonville. The first rebroadcast is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 9.
RED DEVILS CLIP FONTBONNE WEDNESDAY
A 3-point play from sophomore forward Lexi Dooley in the final minute provided the ninth and final lead change of Wednesday's SLIAC game against Fontbonne, sending the Red Devils to a 61-57 league win over the Griffins at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena. Junior guard Kerrigan Dura led the hosts with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Raven Venegas's jumper with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter broke the 10th and final tied score of the game and gave the visitors a 57-55 advantage. Eureka answered with Dooley's 3-point play just 22 seconds later on the ensuing possession for a 58-57 edge.
Dura finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for her second career double-double. Hayley Reneau chipped in 18 points and six boards and senior forward Michaela Balducci hauled down 13 rebounds.