SPOKANE, Wash. – The No. 23 Eastern Oregon University women’s basketball team rallied for a 67-63 win at Whitworth University Tuesday.
The Mountaineers (3-0) came back from a nine-point first half deficit and led by as many as seven in the second half. The Pirates opened the game with an 11-3 lead after an Emily Guthrie three-pointer with 16:32 left in the first half.
Another Guthrie three-pointer a minute later gave Whitworth it’s first of four nine-point advantages in the game, 17-8. The Pirates opened the game hitting seven of their first eight shots.
The Mountaineer defense then began to slow the game down and forced 10 misses out Whitworth’s next 12 shots. Eastern would close within four points five times before halftime, including the halftime deficit, 33-29.
Eastern Oregon opened the second half on an 8-4 run to tie the score at 37 at the 17:21 mark of the second half. The Pirates responded with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes. The following four minutes belonged to EOU. The Mountaineers went on 12-0 run taking their first lead of the game since they led 2-0 to open the game.
Kyle Miller led EOU with 12 points. The senior was 7 for 10 from the free-throw line. Miller added a game-high three assists. Brooke Randall and Vintea Georges added 11 and 10 points. Korrie Bourn had 11 rebounds.
Eastern outrebounded Whitworth, 42-33. The Pirates committed 18 turnovers, compared to EOU’s 13. The Mountaineers bench outscored Whitworth’s 29-8. Eastern Oregon also had a 19-7 points off of turnover advantage and a 17-6 second-chance point edge.
Lexi Belcher led the Pirates (0-1) with 20 points. She scored 18 points in the second half and finished 7 for 9 from the field in the game. Guthrie added 15 points. Lauren Picha and Kayla Johnson each had 10 points. Johnson finished with a double-double grabbing 10 rebounds as well.
Whitworth shot 43 percent from the field in the game, compared to Eastern’s 35 percent. The Pirates were 36 percent from behind the arc, while EOU was 33 percent. The Mountaineers made 20 of their 31 free throws, and the Pirates hit 11 of their 15.
Eastern won for the seventh time in the 22 all-time meetings. EOU beat Whitworth for the third straight time, its longest win streak in the series. From 1986 to 2000, the Pirates won eight straight over the Mountaineers.
Eastern Oregon travels to San Diego Christian for its next game. The Mountaineers have a pair of games in southern California beginning with the SDCC matchup Friday, capped with a game at La Sierra University Saturday, in Riverside, Calif. There will be live stats from the San Diego Christian game and live video from La Sierra on EOUSports.com.