Red Devils Suffer Defeat Against Illinois Tech

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka women's basketball team struggled in the second half, falling to Illinois Tech 70-60 on Wednesday evening.

The Red Devils jumped out to an 8-7 lead early in the first quarter before a 10-0 scoring run by Illinois Tech gave the Scarlet Hawks an early 9-point advantage. Eureka managed to cut into that lead, but Illinois Tech still led 19-12 at the end of the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, the Red Devils rallied to regain the lead. After Illinois Tech scored the opening points of the quarter, Eureka went on an 11-0 scoring run to take a 23-21 lead on a jump shot by Sierra Garcia-Reisch (Las Animas, Colo./La Junta). After conceding their lead, the Red Devils mounted another scoring run, this time a 9-0 run, to take a 5-point lead with 13 seconds remaining in the first half, their largest lead of the night. The Scarlet Hawks managed to get one more bucket before halftime, cutting the Red Devils' lead to 34-31.

Eureka held on to their narrow lead for the majority of the third quarter, but in the last 3 minutes, Illinois Tech mounted a 10-2 scoring run, giving themselves a 49-42 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Scarlet Hawks extended their scoring run to 14-2 to open the fourth quarter, giving themselves an 11-point cushion with 8 minutes remaining. With 6:55 left to play, Illinois Tech went ahead by 13 points, their largest lead of the game. The Red Devils trimmed the deficit to 7 points after back-to-back baskets by Alyssa Zarello (Bushnell, Ill./Bushnell) and Allanah Jackson (Peoria, Ill./Peoria), but that was as close as they would get. Illinois Tech extended their lead back to double digits and held on to hand Eureka a 70-60 defeat.

GAME NOTES

• Maxine Najera (Riverside, Calif./Hillcrest) recorded 11 points and 11 rebounds, her second consecutive double-double.
• Elena Redgate (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and Brin Hultz (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) each scored 11 points off the bench for Eureka. Hultz added 6 rebounds, while Redgate brought down 5 rebounds.

UP NEXT

The Red Devils (3-4, 2-1) will look to bounce back on Friday evening when Mount Mary (4-4) comes to town for a nonconference matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.