Huge 3rd Q leads to come-from-behind win

(Photo courtesy of Ashton Aguirre)

ST. LOUIS, MO - The Eutectics overcame a slow start and Grace Beyer was back to her usual form as UHSP battled their in-city rival and came away with a 79-74 win over Harris-Stowe in the second American Midwest Conference meeting between the two. The win runs the Eutectics current win streak to three in a row and four of the last five.

Grace Beyer has not been scoring at her usual clip over the two games prior to the match-up against the Hornets. She scored just 11 in a road win over Cottey last Thursday and had just 18 points last Saturday against Hannibal-LaGrange at the end of regulation. It was only after scoring all 11 of the Eutectics points in overtime against the Trojans that allowed Beyer to finish with 29 and get close to her per game average of just over 33 points-per-game. Beyer mimicked her overtime performance against the Trojans as she scored all 13 of the Eutectics' points in the first quarter against Harris-Stowe as the Hornets led 25-13 after one quarter. Beyer was 4-of-9 from the floor in the quarter while the rest of the club went a combined 0-for-6. Harris-Stowe ran out to an 8-0 lead thanks in part to a pair of threes from Samara Swire.

Early in the second quarter, the Eutectics got themselves in trouble as they fell behind by 17. Autumn Brown was able to take the ball away from Beyer and turned a steal into a layup at the other end as HSSU went up 37-20 with 6:17 left in the half. The Purple and Gold were able to close the gap to single digits thanks to a Samantha Matthews triple with 3:22 left that made it 42-33. That was Matthews' only three-point attempt in the quarter, but she was 5-for-11 from distance for the game. Harris-Stowe spread the lead back out to 13, but a Beyer three cut it to 46-36 at the half. Beyer scored 16 of the team's 23 points in the second stanza and had 29 at the half to match her output from the Hannibal-LaGrange game.

The third quarter was where Matthews really shined. Harris-Stowe quickly extended the lead to 14, but then the Eutectics went to work. Sara Hameed and Matthews hit threes around a Toree Jackson layup and the HSSU lead was down to ten. Matthews connected again from perimeter sandwiched in between UHSP layups from Karsyn Morgan and Beyer and the lead was down to five. Morgan joined in the fun from distance and buried a triple to make it a 59-58 Hornet lead with 1:44 left in the quarter. Caroliena Diaz would create a turnover with a steal from Swire leading to a Matthews jumper that capped a 24-point quarter and the Purple and Gold lead by one heading to the fourth quarter, 60-59. Matthews was 4-of-6 from the floor in the quarter with three of those made baskets coming from three as she finished with 11 points in the quarter.

The fourth quarter was tight throughout. The period featured four lead changes and three ties with neither team ever leading by more than four until Beyer hit the second of two free throws with :12 seconds left to provide the final margin. Matthews and Beyer combined to score 17 of the club's 19 fourth quarter points as the former did not miss a shot in the period. With 1:50 left, Matthews' final three of the night gave UHSP the lead for good at 74-73. She was fouled on that attempt and hit the foul shot to finish off the four-point play. Beyer hit four foul shots in the final minute to seal the win for the Eutectics.

UHSP won despite shooting 47.3% from the floor on 26-of-55 shooting. HSSU hit half their shots going 31-for 62 from the floor. The three-point line provided a huge advantage for the Eutectics as they connected on 11 of their 25 attempts for 44%. The Hornets were just 4-of-11 from deep (36.4%). The Eutectics were their usual efficient selves at the line hitting making all but two of their 18 attempts while Harris-Stowe hit just half of their 16 tries resulting in another key area that was tilted in favor of UHSP. Grace Beyer and Samantha Matthews combined to lead the way for UHSP as they combined for 67, all but 12 of the team's 79 total points. The tandem was 21-for-43 from the field and hit 9-of-20 from deep. Beyer had a day with 15 rebounds, six assists and four steals to go with her game-high 43 points. Matthews finished with two dozen points and three assists. Karsyn Morgan turned in a solid game with seven points, four rebounds and four assists. Harris-Stowe put four players in double figures led by Casandra Sams who had 22 points along with ten rebounds. Toree Jackson had 16 points while Samara Swire and Autumn Brown each had 14 points. The Eutectics have now beaten Harris-Stowe in the last six straight meetings.

UHSP (12-8, 7-3) next faces the co-leaders in the AMC race as they travel to Columbia on Saturday for a rematch with the Stephens Stars (15-5, 10-1). The Stars are receiving votes in the most recent Top-25 NAIA poll and are tied with Columbia atop the AMC. The Stars took down Missouri Baptist on Thursday night, 70-48. Tip-off between the Stars and Eutectics at Silverthorne Arena is at 1:00pm on Saturday.