Principia Defeats Eureka Just Before the Buzzer

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka women's basketball team held the lead for much of the second half but could not hold on as Principia made the winning shot with less than 1 second remaining, defeating the Red Devils 63-61.

Eureka started the game strong, jumping out to an early 8-2 lead. Miya Webb (Indianapolis, Ind./Brownsburg) contributed 6 of the first 8 points during that stretch. Principia responded with a 10-2 run of their own, gaining their first lead of the game with just over 2 minutes left in the opening quarter.

The Panthers took their lead into the second quarter, but the game quickly became tied again when Sierra Garcia-Reisch (Las Animas, Colo./La Junta) grabbed her own rebound and made a layup to level the score at 16. The two teams remained fairly even for the rest of the quarter, but Principia held a slight edge at halftime, leading 36-33.

Eureka reclaimed the lead less than a minute into the third quarter, thanks to back-to-back baskets by Maxine Najera (Riverside, Calif./Hillcrest) and Elena Redgate (Metamora, Ill./Metamora). Principia narrowed the deficit to a single point before the Red Devils scored three straight baskets to take their largest lead of the afternoon, 48-41.

By the start of the fourth quarter, Eureka held a 50-45 lead. The Panthers got the first points of the final period, but Josie Ness (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) responded with a huge layup and foul. She made the ensuing free throw to give Eureka a 6-point edge. With 3:36 remaining, Garcia-Reisch converted a second-chance layup to extend the lead back to 6 points.

Unfortunately for the Red Devils, they went on a scoring drought of over 3 minutes, and Principia tied the game 59-59 with 52 seconds left. Eureka used most of the shot clock on their next possession, but found Najera, who knocked down a crucial jump shot to give the Red Devils the lead with 26 seconds remaining.

Principia drew a foul with 14 seconds left, sending them to the free-throw line, where they made both attempts to tie the game. On the next possession, Eureka tried to hold for the final shot, but Principia came up with a steal with 5 seconds left. Though the Panthers missed the transition layup, they secured the rebound and made the putback to take the lead with 0.6 seconds remaining. Eureka called a timeout to advance the ball but couldn't get a shot off in time, as Principia held on for the 63-61 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Maxine Najera scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, recording the first double-double of her Eureka career.
• Miya Webb led the Red Devils in scoring with 14 points.
• Elena Redgate recorded 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench for Eureka.

UP NEXT

The Red Devils (3-3, 2-1) will host Illinois Tech (1-5, 0-1) on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 6:00 p.m. in a nonconference showdown.