Benet’s roster is filled with new faces this season, but one has a familiar name.
Sophomore Emily Eshoo is the sixth member of her extended family to play basketball at Benet, joining her aunts, Krista and Kara, uncles Brad and Brian, and brother Eddie, who is currently a senior on the boys team.
Eshoo is making the most of her first season on varsity. The 5-9 guard came off the bench Saturday and tallied a game-high 12 points to lead the host Redwings to a 54-29 victory over Loyola in Lisle.
“It’s kind of fun because we all support each other and they all come to my games,” Eshoo said of her family history. “They all help me and teach me.”
Eshoo has emerged as one of Benet’s deadliest shooters. She sank three of her four three-point attempts, including back-to-back treys bridging the first and second quarters that capped a 16-3 run and gave the Redwings (7-2) a 19-5 lead.
“I think we expect her to shoot extremely well,” Benet coach Peter Paul said of Eshoo, who also had six rebounds. “We always talk about that three-point line. I think she’s always a foot beyond that line.”
Eshoo was just one of many contributors for Benet, which had at least five different players score in each of the first three quarters and then held Loyola (4-3) to one point in the fourth quarter.
“We’re pleased,” Paul said. “We have four returnees. We’ve got a lot of young kids who have an opportunity to play and they’re taking advantage of it. We’re asking a lot of them.”
Sophomore forward Emily Schramek scored eight of her 10 points in the first half as Benet built a 30-14 halftime lead. Freshman Kathleen Doyle tallied six of her eight points and sophomore Morgan Thomalla had five of her seven during the third quarter to extend the gap to 46-28.
Junior Eden Olson also finished with seven points as the hosts overcame the absence of starter Jenna Martin (foot injury) and a 1-for-8 shooting performance by St. Louis-bound guard Christen Prasse, who had four points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
“I think we were just really aggressive and we stayed with the pressure on defense,” Eshoo said. “We’re just really good at moving the ball around and our team is just really well-rounded. All of us can trust each other.”
Maggie Nick had eight points to lead Loyola, which shot only 10-of-46 from the floor and was outrebounded 41-25. Leading scorer Anna Schueler returned after missing three games with a dislocated kneecap but was rusty, scoring six points on 2-of-13 shooting to go with eight rebounds.
“[The knee] feels really good,” Schueler said. “It was difficult not playing for a week, but I think we’ll be ready for [Resurrection on] Tuesday.”
