Eastern Oregon Proves to be Too Much for Wolves
Charles Fletcher- Sports Writer
College Place, Wash. - The Eastern Oregon Mountaineers beat the Wolves by a score of 109-45 here at Windemuth Court on Saturday night. The Mountaineers' hot shooting dominated the game, as they shot 62% from the field.
Eastern Oregon jumped out to an early 7-0 lead by controlling the offensive boards, forcing Wolves head coach Paul Jessup to call a timeout only two minutes into the first quarter. The Mountaineers' Peyton Parrish scored consecutive buckets midway through the quarter to give her team a sizable lead at 18-4. Eastern Oregon's offense caught fire in the final five minutes of the quarter, connecting on 68% of their field goals.
It was Junior forward Stormee Van Belle who got on a roll for Eastern Oregon in the opening minutes of the second, scoring on three straight field goal attempts, and extending the Mountaineers' lead to 29 at 47-18. EOU's Jessica Sexson gave the Mountaineers' their largest lead of the night at 56-18 by draining a three from the wing with only one minute remaining in the first half. Eastern Oregon's lead would only grow during the final minute, as they headed into the half with a 61-20 lead.
The Wolves' Alyssa Blankenship started the second half on a positive not for Walla Walla, accumulating two boards, two points, and an assist to Emily Downs all within the first two minutes. It wasn't enough to significantly trim the Mountaineers' lead, however, as Eastern Oregon's Kate Hogan scored six quick points to keep their lead at 68-26. EOU exhibited terrific ball movement and shot selection all game long. This was exemplified at the end of the third quarter as Jessica Sexson tossed a perfect alley-oop pass to Kate Hogan for the bucket, giving the Mountaineers an 85-33 lead going into the final quarter.
The Mountaineers continued to build on their lead slowly but surely in the first few minutes of the fourth, as a triple from Peyton Parrish pushed the EoU lead to 58 at 95-37. Eastern Oregon carried this lead until the final buzzer, winning the game by a score of 109-95.
Eastern Oregon's attack was led by Peyton Parrish with 25 points, and Stormee Van Belle patrolled the paint all game, racking up 13 rebounds. The Wolves' leading scorer was Emily Downs with 15 points, Lexi Ehlers and Alyssa Blankenship were right behind her with 10 each.