Illinois College Gets Best of Eureka in Second Try, 77-71

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. –  After taking down Illinois College at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena on Thursday, the Eureka women's basketball team couldn't complete the season series sweep on Saturday.

The Lady Blues bested EC on their home court, 77-71.

Illinois College sophomore Lilly Pepper and senior Megan Price each dropped a game-high 20 points for Illinois College on a senior day in which the Lady Blues were always a couple steps ahead of the Red Devils. Pepper, a 5-foot-10 forward, went 9-for-14 from the floor and grabbed 14 rebounds. Price, a 5-foot-7 guard, went 4-for-6 from distance and 6-for-11 from the field.

Eureka junior Alaina Vance (Camp Point, Ill./Central) scored a team-high 16 for the Red Devils on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Whitney Bozarth (Normal, Ill./Normal West) followed with 14 and Abby Stotler (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County) added 12.

Olivia Falls (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) posted 10 points and gathered a team-high six rebounds, while Marissa Murphy (Canton, Ill./Canton) contributed nine points in 24 minutes off the bench.

The Lady Blues shot 45.8 percent from the field on the day and made 6-of-17 3s. The Red Devils  shot 35.7 percent and made just 4 of 26 3-point tries.

Still, Eureka managed to make it a game.  After trailing by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, Eureka rallied to come within four in the final minute. A bouncing Vance 3-pointer fell through the hoop to make it 71-75 with 34 seconds left. However, Illinois College held off the maroon and gold from there to secure the split.

On Wednesday, Eureka (1-2) will open St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at home against Blackburn (0-1, 0-1 SLIAC at 5:30 p.m.