Women's Basketball Team falls short in Home Conference opener
The Blackburn Women's Basketball Team fell short to Eureka by the score of 84-55 on Wednesday, December 4 in Carlinville, IL.
The Beavers were out-shot 81-55 on the night. Marissa Murphy led the Red Devils with 22 points off the bench. Senior forward Maria Cline led Blackburn with 16 points and six rebounds.
After one quarter Eureka led 17-14. The first quarter was tightly contested as there were seven lead changes and the largest lead was three points. Jadyn Mitchell and Murphy each had six points in the quarter to lead Eureka. The Beavers were led by Sophomore guard Savannah Kruse who had five points off the bench. Blackburn shot better from the floor as they shot 33 percent compared to the Red Devils 21 percent.
In the second quarter, the Beavers were outscored 25 to 12 making the halftime score 42-26. Eureka shot 50 percent from three which led to 15 points. Murphy continued to carry the Red Devils shooting four of six and three of five from three. Freshman guard Megan Lindzy scored five in the quarter to lead Blackburn.
In the third, Blackburn was out-scored 22-16. After a few quick buckets by the Beavers the score was 43-31, and that was the closest Blackburn could get it. Kruse and Lindzy each had five points in the quarter.
Cline led the Beavers with nine points in the fourth quarter shooting four of seven. But this effort was not enough as the Red Devils outscored Blackburn 20 to 13. The final score was 84 to 55.
Cline led Blackburn with a season-high 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Kruse scored 14 points off the bench. Lindzy scored a career-high 13 points who also came off the bench.
Blackburn shot 38 percent from the field compared to Eureka's 36 percent. The Red Devils won the turnover battle committing 18 to Blackburn's 33.
Blackburn falls to 2-3 (0-1 SLIAC) and Eureka improves to 4-2 (1-0 SLIAC). The Beavers travel to Fontbonne Saturday, December 7th for another conference match-up. The tip-off will be at 1:00 P.M.