Eutectics move to 4-3 after winning home opener

Saturday afternoon at the UHSP Gymnasium, the Eutectics finally played their first home game of the 2023-24 season after opening the season with six straight games on the road (3-3). The Midway Eagles provided the opposition and entered the game having beaten UHSP in ten straight games dating back to the start of the 2001 season. The Eutectics were able to snap that skid and move back over the .500 mark with a 80-67 win.

UHSP leading scorer Grace Beyer got off to an uncharacteristically slow start as she missed a handful of inside shots. The Eutectics instead relied early on the shooting of Elizabeth Allanach who scored seven of the club's first 20 points. Karsyn Morgan connected on a jumper with just under four minutes remaining in the first period that squared things at 8-8. That fueled a 14-3 UHSP run that took them to the end of the quarter with a 20-11 lead

Midway did all they could in the second quarter to keep the margin in single digits. Sereniti Webb made a layup 2:01 into the quarter that cut the Eagles deficit to nine at 25-16. But six points by Beyer and a Morgan layup put the home club back on top comfortably at 33-18. Jaiden Douthit would hit back-to-back layups to get the Eagles to within 11, but Emily Coleman put a quick end to that threat burying one of her two three-pointers to make it 36-22. UHSP led 36-23 at the half.

Beyer would turn it on in the third scoring, scoring ten of the club's 21 points in the period. Allanach, Samantha Matthews and Payten Foster would all have buckets in that order to open the period and Coleman capped it with her second three. UHSP led 57-39 after three and outscored Midway 28-23 in the final quarter to finish out the win.

Grace Beyer led all scorers with 36 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. Elizabeth Allanach added 16 points and five boards while Karsyn Morgan and Samantha Matthews each finished with nine points. Kassidy Daugherty and Jaiden Douthit each paced Midway scoring 14 points in the loss. Despite shooting 18 fewer shots, UHSP only had one fewer made field goal than Midway as the Eutectics shot 47.2% from the floor to the Eagles' 36.6%. Midway did make 11 three-pointers to UHSP's seven, but the free throw numbers were heavily tilted toward the Eutectics as they were 23-for-27 at the line while Midway was 4-of-8. UHSP outrebounded Midway 36-31.

The Eutectics (4-3) are idle until their Christmas holiday tournament when they head to Chandler, Arizona. UHSP will play Rocky Mountain (MT) on Dec. 19 at 8p CST and then again on Dec. 21 against Vanguard (CA) at 8p CST. Those are the final two regular season games for the Eutectics prior to the turn of the calendar into January.