EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka College women's basketball team pushed its winning streak to 10 games with a 90-37 non-conference rout of Lincoln Christian, Wednesday night at the Reagan Center. All 16 healthy Red Devils scored at least one point in the victory.
The Red Devils (18-3) used effective full-court pressure and accurate shooting to open up an 18-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest. All 16 players saw action in the first half, as the Red Devils led by as many as 41 points (47-6) after junior forward Kelli Dunne (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods H.S.) put down two free throws with 3:08 left before intermission. The Red Devils shot 59 percent (19-for-32) in the first 20 minutes and carried a 50-11 lead into the break.
Eureka opened the second half in dominant fashion as well, using a 16-2 run over the first 5:27 after halftime. Two free throws from freshman forward Kelsey Shoemake (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) at the 4:57 mark gave Eureka an 84-28 lead, its largest of the night.
All 16 players played at least six minutes, and sophomore reserve Kiley Bugaieski (Tremont, Ill./Tremont H.S.) played a team-high 19 minutes. Senior forward Khassandrae Brown (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S./Kankakee) scored a game-high 12 points, while junior guard Jay Stewart (Taylorville, Ill./Taylorville H.S./Illinois State) also hit double-figures with 10 points. No Eureka starter played more than 13 minutes. Sophomore guard Ashley Segerstrom (LeRoy, Ill./LeRoy H.S.) scored her first career point on a free throw in the first half.
Moriah Kirkpatrick scored 10 points to lead Lincoln Christian (4-15). The Red Lions shot just 24 percent (15-for-62) from the floor for the game.
While Wednesday's result did not factor into the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference race, Eureka was able to pull into a first-place tie in the league standings on Wednesday. Fontbonne downed Westminster in St. Louis, 55-53, to force a three-way tie atop the league standings. Eureka, Fontbonne and Westminster each have identical 11-2 SLIAC records with three league games remaining for each squad. Webster will round the four-team SLIAC Tournament to be hosted by the regular season champion beginning Friday, Feb. 24.
Eureka will close out the home portion of its schedule on Saturday in a 1 p.m. SLIAC tip-off against Fontbonne. The Red Devils will host their annual Senior Day during the afternoon, honoring seniors Brown, Lisa Byard (Morton, Ill./Morton H.S.), Elizabeth Greger (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA H.S.), Sara Hamilton (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S./Illinois Central) and Lanie Viti (Streator, Ill./Woodland H.S.).