LA GRANDE, Ore. – Junior forward Stormee Van Belle scored six straight points during a crucial stretch of the third quarter, and the 17th-ranked EOU women’s basketball team took down fifth-ranked Southern Oregon, 74-61, on Friday night at Quinn Coliseum.
Van Belle finished the night with 17 points, while Maya Ah You (Dias) tallied a game-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds. Shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from both the field and charity stripe, senior forward Ashley Knight added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
With the win, EOU (22-4, 15-2 CCC) moved into a tie for first place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) with Southern Oregon (22-3, 15-2 CCC), and the Blue and Gold knocked off the Raiders at home for the ninth time in the last 10 tries.
After starting the game 1-for-5, EOU erupted for a 14-4 run to take an 18-11 lead in the first quarter. Senior guard Darian Gasseling buried one of her two first-half treys to put the Blue and Gold up 25-20 in the second quarter, but the Raiders responded with seven straight to take a two-point edge at the 6:35 mark.
Baskets by Van Belle and Knight anchored EOU midway through the second quarter, and then junior guard Payton Parrish swooshed a three in the deep corner to help the Mountaineers regain the edge (33-31) with 3:43 left to go. She later drained another trey to tie it at 36 before Southern Oregon’s Tiani Bradford answered right back to give the Raiders a 39-36 halftime edge.
With the heated battle tied at 49 apiece midway through the third, EOU erupted for eight points in a 90-second span, six of which came from Van Belle, to go up by eight (57-49) at the 2:44 mark.
Southern Oregon pulled to within four (57-53), but EOU went on to score seven unanswered, capped by a three from Parrish and a jumper inside by Knight. In the final 2:27, the Mountaineers’ pesky defense forced three turnovers and held the Raiders to only two shot attempts to seal the upset victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
+14 – EOU’s margin on the glass.
16 – The Mountaineers outscored the Raiders, 38-22, in the final 20 minutes.
36 – Points scored between Van Belle and Dias.
UP NEXT
EOU squares off against No. 22 Oregon Tech tomorrow for Whiteout and Senior Night at 5:30 p.m. The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free EOU spirit t-shirt.