The Eureka Lady Wildcats turned up the pressure in the third quarter and it paid dividends in a loser's bracket semifinal of the State Farm Holiday Hoops Invitational.
Locked in a tight battle with Hyde Park Academy of Chicago, the Lady Wildcats blew the game open by holding the Thunderbirds to a 2-of-21 shooting performance in the period that sparked them to a 78-51 win.
Hyde Park led twice in the game's first two minutes but fell behind for good after a 7-0 spurt by Eureka, capped by a layup by Natalie Archambault, put the Lady Wildcats up 13-6.
Hyde Park cut the lead to one point once in the first quarter and again at 32-31 with 2:07 left in the second quarter.
But Eureka ended the first half on an 8-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Kate Hillyer with :01 left that made it 40-31 at halftime.
Then came the pivotal third quarter, where Eureka used a 20-9 scoring advantage to make it 60-40 heading to the final quarter.
Hillyer tied for the game high with 20 points to pace Eureka. Claire Martin added 17 points and Lauren Glascock had 10.
Hyde Park got a monster game from Myheaven Parker, who racked up 20 points and 16 rebounds.