Eureka Holds Off Principia on Senior Day, 68-62
EUREKA – The Eureka women's basketball team closed its regular season on Saturday by holding off Principia in a 68-62 victory for Senior Day.
Junior transfer Madison Jernagin (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone/Blackburn) tallied a team-high 13 points and made three 3-pointers. It was her second time reaching double figures this season, and her first leading the team in scoring.
In the last home game of her collegiate career, senior star Olivia Falls (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) posted a double-double for the eighth time this season, finishing with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Falls is sixth in program history in rebounding with 774 and seventh in points with 1,162.
Junior Shakaya Rogers (Hanover, Mich./Concord/Glen Oaks) followed with 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block.
Abby Stotler (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County/MacMurray) and Savanah Moore (Clinton, Ill./Mt. Pulaski/MacMurray) added nine and eight points, respectively. Moore pulled down nine rebounds.
In addition to Falls, fellow seniors Kennedy Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone/Carl Sandburg) and Marissa Murphy (Canton, Ill./Canton) were honored for their contributions to the program before the game. Jackson notched six points and five rebounds, while Murphy had five points, two steals, a rebound and an assist.
The Red Devils outscored the Panthers by six points in the first quarter, and the visitors managed to match them the rest of the way.
Eureka led by as many as 11 in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers pushed to within four in the last two minutes.
The Red Devils put the game away at the free-throw line, making 5 of 6 fouls shots in the last 64 seconds. Falls and Stotler each made 2-of-2 and Murphy made 1-of-2.
Eureka dominated the Panthers on the glass, outrebounding Principia 56-37 and tying a season-high.
The win completed a season sweep of the Panthers and moved the Red Devils to 7-7 in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
On Wednesday at 7 p.m., the fifth-seeded Red Devils (11-13, 7-7 SLIAC) are will take on fourth-seeded Fontbonne (11-12, 7-6 SLIAC) on the road to open the SLIAC Tournament.
The Griffins will conclude their regular season on Sunday at home against Spalding (8-16, 4-9 SLIAC), but the seeds are already locked in.
