Box Score

On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Eagles fell to the visiting Gorloks of Webster University 54-47 at Derrick Smith Gymnasium. The loss to the Gorloks dropped Spalding to a 12-3 conference record, which puts them in third place in the SLIAC behind Iowa Wesleyan and Eureka.

Forward Jessica Guy finished the game recording a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds; Guy also recorded 4 blocks for the Lady Eagles in the loss. Guard Kerstin Hayes added nine points.

Gorlok Courtney Pursley led the game with 18 points and 9 rebounds, while teammate Kaliann Rikard added 13 points and 5 assists.

Spalding and Webster matched points in the first half of the game as there were two ties and three lead changes, but no team led by more than six points. Although the game was close, Webster would outscore Spalding 15-8 in the last 10 minutes of the half to take a 23-21 half-time lead. Neither team shot well in the first half, which helped keep the game close; the Gorloks ended the first half shooting 31.8% from the field, while Spalding ended the half shooting 29.2%.

The second half of play started much like the first; the game stayed close as the teams matched points. The game would continue to go back-and-forth until a layup by Rikard of Webster with 33 seconds remaining in the game increased the Gorloks lead to 51-47. A missed 3-point attempt by Hayes and three Gorlok free-throws sealed the deal for Webster as they walked away with a 53-47 victory over Spalding.

Spalding and Webster were pretty evenly matched until the last seconds of the game. The Lady Eagles out-rebounded the Lady Gorloks 43-34; but also led in turnovers with 19 and personal fouls with 26. The 26 fouls, 6 more than Webster, led to 33 free throw attempts, 10 more than Spalding. The Lady Eagles held Webster to a 36.4 shooting percentage, but only shot 17 of 55 (30.9%) from the field themselves.

The Lady Eagles will be back in action Monday, February 17 against conference opponent Greenville College in Greenville, IL at 7:00 p.m. EST.