Katelin Shannon led the Lady Yotes to win over EOU
CALDWELL, Idaho - A late steal and basket from Katelin Shannon gave The College of Idaho the lead for good, as the Lady Yotes ended on a 9-0 run, defeating No. 20 ranked Eastern Oregon, 57-53, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Lady Yotes (10-7, 5-2 CCC), who trailed 53-48 after a trey by Nicole Redd and a pair of free throws by Kelsea Hurliman with 3:17 remaining, battled back. A driving lay-up by Nicole Gall cut the margin to one, and a Dayna Drager free throw tied the score with 1:44 remaining. On EOU’s next possession, Shannon swiped Redd at halfcourt, racing for the fastbreak bucket, giving The C of I the lead. After an EOU miss, Gall missed a runner inside the final 30 seconds, but Diamond Mitchell corralled the offensive board, and converted the put-back to close the scoring.
The Mountaineers (11-5, 3-4) went 0-for-5 with two turnovers during the final run.
The opening 20 minutes was a see-saw affair, as the Coyotes got seven quick points from Shannon to open a 9-4 lead, but EOU clawed back, using a 10-2 push, capped by a Rosebud Guthrie lay-up, to take a 14-11 edge. The C of I would score seven-straight to take a 20-16 lead, but a Kyle Miller bucket capped an 11-0 run, giving EOU their largest lead of the half at 27-20 with five minutes left. The Yotes countered, holding the visitors without a field goal for a five-minute stretch, regaining the lead at 29-27 on a pair of Nicole Bruce free throws, before a buzzer-beating lay-up by Samantha Flett tied the game at the break.
Eastern would bolt out in the second half, as a Hurliman trey gave the Mounties a 42-35 lead with 11:25 remaining. The Coyotes would come right back, as a driving Meghan Hughes lay-up gave the hosts a 45-44 lead – setting up the wild finish.
Shannon led the Yotes with 13 points, with Bruce adding 12, and Gall ten points – as The C of I made just 1-of-12 shots from outside the arc.
EOU got 19 points from Hurliman, but the No. 2 three-point shooting team in the NAIA hit just 7-of-26 shots from outside the arc.
The Yotes hit the road next weekend with games at Corban and Northwest Christian.