EC Women’s Basketball Falls at Greenville, 87-70
GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka women's basketball team couldn't keep up with Greenville on the road on Friday evening, falling to the Panthers 87-70.
Junior Olivia Falls (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) recorded her fifth double-double of the season and her fourth in the last five games with 16 points and 12 rebounds. She was 4-for-6 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Marissa Murphy (Canton, Ill./Canton) followed with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists and Kennedy Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) added 14 points and eight rebounds while shooting 6-of-7 from the field, with all 14 points coming in the second half.
Abby Stotler (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County) contributed 10 points and five rebounds, while Alaina Vance (Camp Point, Ill./Stark County) recorded a team-high six assists to go with six rebounds.
The Red Devils started slow, and though they were able to work their way back in the game, Greenville stayed steady and didn't make it easy.
The Panthers led by as many as 15 in the first half. Eureka was able to get it down to 10 by halftime following a nice play in transition. A steal by Falls led to a feed by Vance and a basket by Murphy that made it 38-28.
Falls scored the first bucket of the second half to make it a single-digit game, but Greenville answered with a 3-pointer by Emily Reinneck on the next possession, which started an 11-0 Panthers run.
The home team led by as many as 23. As they did at the end of the half, though, Eureka rallied and was able to cut it down to 13 heading into the fourth. But Greenville expanded it again in the fourth.
Though the Red Devils shot 54.8 percent in the second half, Greenville was even hotter, going 14-for-31 from the field after halftime. The Panthers also made five of their eight 3s on the night in the second half. Reinneck finished with a game-high 24 points, while Madelyn Stephen added 15.
Eureka (4-5, 3-3 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play) will look to bounce back on Tuesday in its second round against Fontbonne (3-3, 3-3 SLIAC) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.