Eutectics fall in home opener to Missouri Valley

(Photo courtesy of Makenzie Ness)

ST. LOUIS, MO – After dropping a pair on the road to start the season, the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy got a chance to play their first game on their home floor. It was the first chance for the Eutectic fans to get a looked a re-tooled roster that includes a new head coach in Markell Cox. The Eutectics had a balanced first quarter, but Missouri Valley dominated the middle quarters and pulled away for a 76-56 win over UHSP.

It was a solid start to the game for the home club who led 20-19 at the end of one. The first quarter saw seven different Eutectics score as they shared the ball well with Montasia McAllister scoring seven in the quarter. Kailana Reed made a layup late to put UHSP up by three, but Sara Ortiz countered with a lay-in with two seconds left in the quarter as the Vikings cut the margin to one.

Karsyn Morgan scored four straight for the Purple and Gold to start the second and McAllister buried a jumper just over four minutes into the quarter as UHSP led 29-25. MVC would go on a 16-4 run though to close the half to take a 41-33 advantage highlighted by back-to-back threes from Ylenia Exposito as the Vikings nailed four triples in the quarter. MoVal outscored the Eutectics 22-13 in the quarter.

The third started with an Exposito basket and a Noa Fernandez layup as the visitors took a 12-point lead. That ballooned to 16 when Fernandez hit another layup midway through the period as MoVal led 54-38. McAllister hit a three to cut the margin to a baker's dozen, but Giavanna Moore answered with a three with 1:42 left that extended the lead to 17 at 59-42. Reece Halley made a layup at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 61-46 through three.

The Eutectics would need an outstanding fourth quarter in order to get back in the game and it just did not happed as they only scored ten points in the period. They cut it to 12 early with a Sara Hameed three that made it 63-51 with just short of seven minutes left, but that turned out to be one of only two field goals they made it the quarter.

Montasia McAllister led all scorers with a game-high 19 points and she added six rebounds, but she was the lone Eutectic in double figures as Reece Halley had nine points. Giavanna Moore led Missouri Valley with 14 points and had eight rebounds while Ylenia Exposito had 11 points and six boards. Sara Ortiz paced MVC on the glass with nine rebounds and also had nine points. The Vikings were dominant on the glass piling up 43 rebounds to just 27 for UHSP. That resulted in 25 more shots for MVC as they went 32-for-75 from the floor (43%) while the Eutectics were 18-of-50 (36%). UHSP did get to the line 23 times making 16 (70%) while the Vikings were just 3-for-8 (38%).

On Wednesday, the Eutectics (0-3) are back at home as the Culver-Stockton Wildcats (2-1) come to town for a 5:00p tip-off. The Cats are coming off a home-and-home sweep of fellow American Midwest Conference member Hannibal-LaGrange. UHSP will then host the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) in an exhibition game on Friday before opening up AMC play as they will travel to meet one of the new conference members Crowley's Ridge on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5:30p.