Red Devils Pull Away from Beloit, 90-72
BELOIT, Wis. – The Eureka women's basketball team pulled away from Beloit and picked up its first win of the 2022-23 season on Friday night, besting the Buccaneers 90-72.
Sydney Hannam (Canton, Ill./Canton) dropped a career-high 26 points while shooting 7-for-10 from the field, 2-for-3 from distance and 10-for-10 at the free-throw line.
She put up 20 of her 26 points after halftime, and was one of four Red Devils to hit double-double figures on the night.
Savanah Moore (Clinton, Ill./Mount Pulaski/MacMurray) followed, notching a season-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. She scored 11 of her 16 in the second quarter, when she went 4-for-5 from the field and hit a 3-pointer.
Josie Ness (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) gathered team-high nine rebounds to go with 12 points, a team-high three assists and a pair of steals, while Shakaya Rogers (Hanover, Mich./Concord/Glen Oaks) added 10 points, along with a team-high three steals and five boards.
Abby Stotler (Wyoming, Ill./Stark County/MacMurray) and Reece Putrich (Farmington, Ill./Farmington Central) contributed eight and seven points, respectively. Stotler also gathered six rebounds.
Rogers and Marissa Murphy (Canton, Ill./Canton) each had five rebounds. Murphy also had two steals and a block.
For Beloit, T'Aira Boyance posted a team-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Hannah Welte and Addyson Ciochon had 15 and 10 points, respectively.
It was the EC's first time reaching 90 points since it beat Aurora, 91-83, last December.
Eureka shot a season-high 46.7 percent from the field, outrebounded the Buccaneers 43-40 and had double the number of assists as the home team (12-6). The Red Devils also got a season-high 27 points from their bench.
Beloit scored the first basket of the game, then never led again. The Red Devils scored the last five points of the first quarter to take an eight-point advantage into the second. They held a double-digit lead on several occasions in the second quarter and went into the break up nine.
The visitors outscored Beloit 26-17 in the lead in the third frame, and the lead ballooned to 25 points the final quarter.
With its first win under its belt, Eureka (1-2) will return to its home floor to host Illinois Wesleyan (1-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.