Eeten Claims Another Record; Eureka Women's Basketball Downs Greenville
EUREKA, Ill. – Eureka College sophomore guard Caty Eeten (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) went a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line during Wednesday's St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against Greenville, breaking the single-season Eureka and Conference record for free throws made in a game and lifting the Red Devils to an 83-73 league win over the Panthers at the Reagan Center. The Red Devils went 40-for-46 from the charity stripe as a team, setting a new single-game Eureka team record.
Eeten's 20 foul shots broke the record of 16 that she previously shared with current teammate Lisa Byard (Morton, Ill./Morton H.S.) and Sherry Bryan. All but two of her foul shots came in the second half, helping Eureka turn a four-point halftime lead into a 10-point victory.
The first 20 minutes proved to be a back-and-forth struggle, as the Red Devils (4-0, 1-0 SLIAC) and Panthers (2-4, 0-1 SLIAC) were tied on five occasions and exchanged the lead six times. The Red Devils were able to stretch their lead to five points, 21-16, on Eeten's only two free throws of the first half with 8:34 left. Greenville answered with a 16-7 run and took its biggest lead of the night, 32-28, when Katelyn Wise scored with 2:46 left. The Red Devils fired right back, closing the half on an 8-0 burst of their own and carrying a 36-32 advantage into halftime. Freshman guard Jenna Brooks (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.) put the exclamation point on the run with a layup with nine seconds left.
The Red Devils held on to the advantage for most of the second half, but Greenville finally regained a 59-58 lead on Brittani Wolfe's 3-pointer with 5:54 remaining. The Panthers would lead as late as the 4:40 mark when Emmalee Fladland's free throw pushed the guests in front, 61-60. Eureka regained the lead on a layup from Khassandrae Brown (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S./Kankakee) on the next offensive set, but a layup from Laura Hobbie ultimately forced the 11th tie of the night, 67-67, with just 2:29 remaining.
Eeten took charge in the final two minutes, making nine straight free throws and successfully converting a 3-point play for a 76-71 lead with 51 seconds remaining. After Hobbie created the 67-67 tie, Greenville went 1-for-5 from the field, missed two free throws with 30 seconds remaining and committed eight fouls.
The Red Devils scored nearly half their points from the foul line, going 40-for-46 to break the previous program record for free throws made of 37 set against Asbury (Ky.) on Dec. 1, 2001. Eureka made 19 of its final 20 free throws in the last nine minutes of the contest. Brown went 9-for-12 from the line to finish with 23 points, while senior guard Sara Hamilton (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S./Illinois Central) played the full 40 minutes and recorded game-highs with nine rebounds, four steals and four assists. Hamilton is collecting a league-best 11.2 boards per game.
Fladland scored 25 points to lead the visitors. Greenville ultimately committed 30 fouls, and three Panthers fouled out in the final nine minutes of the contest. Greenville's defeat on Wednesday ended a three-game winning streak in the all-time series against the Red Devils.
Eureka is now 4-0 on the campaign, the best start on record in program history. The Red Devils are also 1-0 in SLIAC play for the second consecutive season. Eureka will host Principia in another league matchup this Saturday at the Reagan Center at 1 p.m.
Courtesy Eureka College sports information
