Red Devils Fall at Home to Monmouth, 96-67

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka women's basketball team hung around early but could not keep pace down the stretch, falling 96-67 at home to Monmouth on Monday afternoon.

Monmouth jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before Kayla Collins (Fort Worth, Texas/Fort Worth Christian) got the Red Devils on the board to make it 4-2. Monmouth extended its advantage to 10-3 early in the first quarter, but Eureka answered when Railynn Brown (Erlanger, Ky./Lloyd Memorial) knocked down a three-pointer to cut the margin to 12-7.

After Monmouth pushed its lead to 16-9, Collins responded with a free throw and a three-pointer to bring Eureka within three at 16-13. Monmouth answered with a five-point run to regain control, but a three-pointer from Abigail Martinez (Los Alamos, N.M./Los Alamos) late in the quarter trimmed the deficit to 25-19 at the end of the first quarter.

Eureka continued to chip away early in the second quarter as Martinez hit a free throw and Allysa Taylor (Tehachapi, Calif./Tehachapi) added a pair from the line to make it 25-22. Following a Monmouth basket, Collins came up with a steal and hit a transition three to pull the Red Devils within two at 29-27. That proved to be as close as Eureka would get, as Monmouth responded with an 11-0 run to take a 40-27 lead and carried a 46-28 advantage into halftime.

Monmouth opened the third quarter with six straight points to stretch the lead to 52-28. After falling behind 60-36, Eureka mounted a 12-1 run to bring the game back within reach at 61-48. Sierra Garcia-Reisch (Las Animas, Colo./La Junta) sparked the run with a layup and later added an and-one, while Miracle Armstrong (Chicago, Ill./Wendell Phillips) capped the stretch with a pair of free throws. Monmouth stopped the momentum late in the quarter and took a 66-50 lead into the fourth.

The Fighting Scots opened the final period on a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach at 76-50. Monmouth maintained control the rest of the way and secured the 96-67 win.

Collins led the Red Devils with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including three triples, while adding three rebounds and a steal. Armstrong finished with 11 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and a steal, while Martinez added nine points and two steals. Brown chipped in eight points and seven rebounds, and Garcia-Reisch contributed seven points, six rebounds, two steals, and a block off the bench. Courtney Hart (Lancaster, Calif./Yosemite) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points.

UP NEXT

Eureka will have a short turnaround as it returns to action Tuesday, hosting Millikin at 2 p.m.