EUREKA, Ill. — The Eureka College women’s basketball team pulled away early in the second half and held on for a 61-52 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Monday at the Reagan Center.
Jaylynn Stewart paced Eureka (5-2) with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Kelsey Shoemake also had a double-double for the Red Devils with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Alex Deshler had a double-double for Lawrence (1-9) with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Amber Lisowe had a team-high 20 points for the Vikings.
The Red Devils led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Lawrence trimmed that margin to 34-28 at the half. Eureka opened the second half on a 7-0 run to build a 41-28 advantage. Kassidy Rinehart hit a pair of free throws at the 16:26 mark to get Lawrence’s first points of the second half and cut the lead to 41-30.
Eureka would push the lead to as many as 15 points, but Lawrence did put together a late rally. Eureka led 55-40 with 8:11 left, but the Red Devils would score only six points the rest of the way.
Lisowe hit a 3-pointer and followed with a layup to trim the margin to 55-45 with 5:41 left. After Deshler scored on a layup to cut the lead to 58-49 with 3:07 left, the Vikings went cold. Lawrence missed its next three shots from the floor and committed a turnover in the next 2:22.
Lawrence also held Eureka scoreless during that stretch and finally sliced into the lead on a pair of Lisowe free throws with 45 seconds left to cut the lead to 58-51. After a missed free throw by Stewart, Deshler convered one of two free throws with 35 seconds left to trim the margin to 58-52.
Shoemake hit a jumper with 27 seconds left to seal the victory for the Red Devils.