Eureka Takes Perfect SLIAC Record to Greenville

PDF Version of Eureka Game Notes

GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka College women's basketball team will take the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's final unbeaten league record on the road again on Wednesday when the Red Devils visit the Greenville Panthers for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside H.J. Long Gymnasiun in Greenville, Ill.

AT A GLANCE

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017

Location: Greenville, Ill.

Site: H.J. Long Gymnasium (2,000)

Series Since 1983: Eureka leads 32-19

Series in Greenville Since 1983: Eureka 13-11

Last Meeting: Greenville won 64-54, Feb. 20, 2016 in Greenville, Ill.

Last 10 Meetings: Eureka leads 8-2

Current Streak: Greenville W1

Thompson vs. Greenville: 3-1

EUREKA RED DEVILS

Record: 9-5, 5-0 SLIAC

Head Coach: Steve Thompson, 3rd season (Wooster '01)

GREENVILLE PANTHERS

Record: 9-5, 4-2 SLIAC

Head Coach: Roy Mulholland, 18th season (Greenville '86)

FOLLOW THE GAME

Live Video: CollegeTVTicket.com

Live Stats: athletics.greenville.edu

Twitter Updates: @EurekaGameDay, @GCPanthers

ABOUT EUREKA

Eureka will be in search of its fourth straight win when it takes a 9-5 overall record and a perfect 5-0 SLIAC mark to Greenville.  EC owns sole possession of first place in the current SLIAC standings, two full games better than Greenville, Westminster, Webster and Iowa Wesleyan in the loss column. The 5-0 start to the conference schedule is Eureka's best in 21 seasons as a member of an NCAA Division III conference (1996-present).

The Red Devils also own a 5-4 road record this season, will try for their first five-game win streak since earning six straight wins from Jan. 16 through Feb. 3 of last season.

The bulk of the EC scoring continues to come from the trio of junior Hayley Reneau (13.4 per game), senior Michaela Balducci (11.6) and junior Kerrigan Dura (10.5).

Eureka leads the nine-team SLIAC in a handful of statistial categories, including 3-pointers per game (7.9) and defensive rebounds per game (28.9). The Red Devils are a perfect 7-0 this season and 21-5 under third-year head coach Steve Thompson when outrebounding the opponent.

Eureka was picked to finish sixth in the SLIAC, according to a coaches' poll released before the start of the season.

NCAA RANKINGS UPDATE

Another national statistics update was released by the NCAA on Monday and the Red Devils continue to claim the Division III lead in total team assists.

The Red Devils distributed 17 assists, their largest total in a road game since Dec. 17 at Webster, to break a tie with Mount St. Vincent (N.Y.) for the top spot. The EC average of 19.2 assists per game ranks fourth nationally.

Junior guard Kerrigan Dura has 70 assists (5.0 per game), one of four Red Devils to record at least 39 assists this season.

RED DEVILS ROLL AT MacMURRAY

Eureka continued its best start to a conference schedule in the program's NCAA Division III history on Saturday, cruising to an 83-42 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over MacMurray in Jacksonville, Ill. The win improved the Red Devils to 9-5 overall and 5-0 against league opponents.

Eureka made sure Saturday's outcome was never in doubt, racing to a 15-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. The Red Devils also opened the second quarter with another lengthy run, scoring the first 17 points of the period to open up a 38-7 lead. The advantage was 46-11 at intermission.

All 11 Red Devils saw the floor in the victory, nine of which scored. Lexi Dooley made her first start of the season and put up a game-high 15 points. Kerrigan Dura finished the contest with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Ashley Harfst matched a career-best with 14 points and Hayley Reneau chipped in with 11.

Saturday's win marked Eureka's largest margin of victory over MacMurray since a 102-61 triumph over the Highlanders at the Reagan Athletic Complex during the 1992-93 season. It's also the Red Devils' biggest win over the Highlanders in Jacksonville since a 99-43 decision during the 1984-85 campaign.

ABOUT GREENVILLE

The reigning SLIAC Tournament champion, Greenville has a 9-5 overall record and a 4-2 record against SLIAC opponents. The Panthers have been a tough out on their home floor this season, winning six of seven contests. GC has suffered SLIAC defeats at Webster (Nov. 30) and at Iowa Wesleyan (Jan. 7).

Laura Goodnight, a junior forward from Bothell, Wash., scores a team-high 14.5 points per game and shoots  40 percent from beyond the arc. She also leads GC in rebounding with an average of 6.1 per contest. Sophomore forward Wesley Woodard adds 12.6 points per game

As a team, the Panthers are one of the most accurate shooting teams in the country. GC's .458 field goal percentage leads the SLIAC and ranks sixth in Division III, while the team 3-point field goal percentage of .379 is tops among league schools and seventh-highest nationally.

Greenville is also tough on the glass, outrebounding its opponents by a league-best 7.4 boards per game.

SLIAC coaches picked the Panthers to finish second in the league this season, trailing only Spalding. Greenville received three of a possible nine first-place votes in the poll.

Last season's SLIAC Tournament crown was Greenville's first in seven trips to the event since 1998. The Panthers finished second in the final league standings a year ago and have won only one regular-season title (1997) since joining the league in 1995.

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.

The 2016-17 season is Roy Mulholland's 18th as head coach at Greenville. The 1986 Greenville graduate is 233-225 overall.

Mulholland is the Greenville College physical education department chair. Prior to his arrival at GC, Mulholland coached girls basketball at Greenville High School for 13 years and own the GHS record for all-time coaching wins.

SERIES VERSUS GREENVILLE

The Red Devils own a 32-19 record in 51 previous meetings with the Panthers since 1983. Included in that stretch is a 13-11 record in Greenville and an even 10-10 mark since becoming league rivals prior to the 2006-07 campaign.

Eureka has won eight of the last 10 over GC since Nov. 30, 2011, but split the home-and-home season series a year ago.

LAST TIME VERSUS GREENVILLE

Luci Weis scored a team-high 14 points off the bench, but Greenville controlled the SLIAC contest from the tip to race away with a 64-43 victory on Feb. 20 in Greenville, Ill.

Emily Camden (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) added eight points and Lexi Dooley grabbed 11 rebounds. The Red Devils were held to just 20 percent shooting from the field (13-of-65) while the host finished the day 19-of-62 (.306) from the floor.

Greenville's Coley Baker paced the scoring for GC, recording 15 points.

FOLLOW THE ACTION ONLINE

Greenville will provide a live video broadcast of the game at CollegeTVTicket.com. A subscription is required to view the broadcast.

GC will also provide live statistics at athletics.greenville.edu. Links to both services will be accessible through links available at EurekaRedDevils.com.

The Eureka College media relations staff will provide updates throughout the game via Twitter at @EurekaGameDay.