Red Devils Rally to 85-81 Win Over Grove City
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Eureka women's basketball team rallied late and snagged an 85-81 victory over Grove City on Day 2 of the Cruzin' Classic.
The win came just over 24 hours after losing to the Wolverines by 23 in the tournament opener.
On Friday afternoon, the Red Devils trailed by as many as nine in the fourth quarter, but the team answered with eight straight points to nearly close the gap and kept grinding until they were ahead.
The go-ahead bucket was an emphatic layup through contact by Olivia Falls (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) with 3:11 left.
Falls missed the ensuing free throw but Savanah Moore (Clinton, Ill./Mt. Pulaski) ended up with it, and shortly afterwards, Falls scored again to give EC a three-point edge.
With 2:13 left, Sydney Hannam (Canton, Ill./Canton) scored off an assist by Moore to make it a five-point game. A free throw by Shakaya Rogers (Hanover, Mich./Concord) extended the lead to six at 83-77, but Grove City's Nina Cano scored off an assist by Clara Hannon on the next possession, and a Eureka turnover and foul later, Megan Kallock sank two free throws to make it 83-81 with 1:06 remaining.
Abby Stotler's (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County) jumper on Eureka's attempt to make it a two-possession game missed, and Grove City came down with the rebound. After calling timeout, the Wolverines set up Cano for a layup, but it didn't go. Rogers – at 5-foot-4, one of the shortest players on the court – secured the rebound with 12 seconds to go.
The Red Devils called timeout, and then Grove City fouled Stotler to stop the clock. The junior promptly knocked down both free throws to give EC a four-point advantage with nine seconds left. After a Grove City timeout, Hannon put up a 3-pointer that missed and landed in the hands of Stotler to end the game.
Eureka trailed Grove City by seven at halftime, then outscored the Wolverines 50-39 in the second half.
Falls notched a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 6-for-10 from the field and tying for a team-high three assists.
Rogers tallied 17 points in 35 minutes off the bench. The senior guard went 12-for-14 from the free-throw line on the day, grabbed five rebounds and posted three assists, two steals and one assist.
Stotler contributed 14 points, four rebounds and two steals, while Moore and Hannam added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Marissa Murphy (Canton, Ill./Canton) chipped in with six points, including a big bucket and two free throws in the fourth quarter, along with three steals, two rebounds and one assist.
Kennedy Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) recorded five points and four rebounds, and Josie Ness (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) posted five rebounds, two points and an assist.
Kallock finished with a game-high 24 points while hitting 10 of 13 free-throw attempts for the Wolverines. Cano and Hannon followed with 16 points apiece.
Eureka shot 46.3 percent from the field and racked up 43 points off the bench in the win.
The Red Devils (3-5) don't play again until Jan. 2 when they host Millikin in non-conference action at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center. Tip-off of the New Year is set for 2 p.m.