CALDWELL, Idaho – The Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team was defeated, 63-62, by Whitworth University after Jessica Kramer gave the Pirates a one point lead, 63-62, in the first game of the Caldwell Best Western Inn and Suites Lady Yotes Classic.
Maloree Moss led the Mountaineers with 14 points.
Larissa Quintana followed with 10 points.
Kassy Larson grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers jumped out early on the Pirates. Behind the shooting of
Maloree Moss, Eastern Oregon found themselves with a quick, 7-4, lead. Moss scored the first seven points of the game for Eastern Oregon. EOU continued to lead building a seven point lead, 21-14, with 7:10 to go in the first half.
Coming out of the second media time out of the first half, EOU went on an 11-1 run, extending their lead to 32-15, over a four minute span. Whitworth did not go away and slowly started to come back. The Pirates cut the Mountaineers lead down to seven points, 37-30, after a three pointer by Lexie Zappone.
The Mountaineers shot 55.6 percent in the first half to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.
Eastern Oregon grew their lead back to 11 points, 41-30, after a
Madeline Laan layup to begin the second half. EOU continued to hold onto their lead, but the Pirates slowly started to mount a comeback. Whitworth went on an 11-2 run, trimming the EOU lead down to two points, 43-41.
The Mountaineers answered right back to extend their lead to nine points, 52-43, after going on a 9-2 run. The Pirates had an answer and hit three straight three pointers to tie the game at 52-52.
EOU answered back by going on an 8-0 run of their own, taking a 60-52 lead. During the run, the Mountaineers were led by
Jordan Klebaum, who scored six of the eight points. After a jumper by Kendra Knutsen, Whitworth found themselves down six points. Laan extended the lead back to eight points, 62-54, with 4:08 left.
Laan's layup was the last field goal and points for the Mountaineers as the Pirates went on a 9-0 run over the last four minutes of the game. With four seconds remaining in the game, Kramer's layup gave Whitworth a 63-62 lead, the first lead for the Pirates of the game, and the win.
Eastern Oregon returns to action tomorrow, Nov. 29 when they take on Westminster (Utah) at 2 p.m. PT on day two of the Caldwell Best Western Inn and Suites Lady Yotes Classic.