Lady Golden Eagles Fall to Eureka 71-58
The Lady Golden Eagles fell to Eureka College 71-58 Wednesday night. Spalding fell behind by 23 before making an outstanding run in the last 5 minutes to cut Eureka’s lead to 11.The key to Spalding’s late run was relentless pressing which forced 15 Eureka turnovers in the second half. Kerstin Hayes led the Lady Golden Eagles with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. The Lady Golden Eagles next home game is January 10th against Fontebonne University at 6pm.
Eureka jumped to an early 9-0 lead, but two Jessica Guy free throws cut Eureka’s lead to 7 at 9-2. Eureka extended their lead with a 4-0 run pushing their lead to 11. Jessica Guy nailed a jumper to cut Eureka’s lead to 9 at 13-4 with 15:03 to play in the first half. Eureka responded with a 7-0 run extending the Red Devils lead to 16 at 20-4. A Megan Davis jumper cut the Golden Eagle deficit to 14 at 20-6 with 10:33 left in the first half. Another 7-0 Red Devils run pushed Eureka’s lead to 27-6. Spalding stopped the run with a three point basket by Kerstin Hayes cutting Eureka’s lead to 18 at 27-9. Eureka went up 35-9, but Spalding ended the half on a 10-4 run cutting Eureka’s lead to 20 at 39-19. Jessica Guy and Lindsey Roarx lead the Lady Golden Eagles at the halftime with four points each.
Both teams exchanged baskets the first three minutes of the second. A Jessica Guy layup cut Eureka’s lead to 18 at 28-46 with 16:26 to play. Eureka responded with a 5-0 run going up 51-28, but a Megan Davis jumper stopped the run cutting Eureka’s lead to 21 at the 15:03 mark. Both teams exchanged baskets over the next 5 minutes, Eureka lead 57-36 with 9:12 left in the second half. Spalding forced Eureka into several turnovers resulting in a 6-3 run cutting Eureka’s lead to 20 with 5:54 left in regulation. A Melinda Leavell three pointer put Spalding within 18 with 4:42 left to play. Kerstin Hayes hit a deep three pointer to get the Lady Golden Eagles within 15 at 54-69 with 2:57 to play. A steal and layup by Jessica Guy cut Eureka’s lead to 13 with 2:11 to play. Tesha Wright’s breakaway layup put Spalding within 11 with 25.1 seconds left in regulation.
