LA GRANDE, Ore. - The Eastern Oregon women's basketball team took down the Northwest Eagles (8-19, 6-11 CCC) 73-64 on Pink Night, earning their 11th win in a row on the season on Friday night at Quinn Coliseum. The Mountaineers are now 21-7 overall and 15-3 against Cascade Collegiate Conference opponents, remaining tied atop the CCC standings with Northwest Christian.
Despite trailing most of the first half, the Mountaineers used a dominant third quarter in which they outscored the Eagles 23-14 to claim the lead for good. After trailing by 11 in the first quarter, EOU flipped the script and led by as many as 11 in the fourth quarter as they cruised to victory.
Leading the Mountaineers was senior Jane Nelson who collected 15 points, eight rebounds and shot 42.9 percent from the field, while making two three's. Fellow senior Rachel Fielder totaled 14 points, going 3-for-6 overall while adding two steals, three assists and four rebounds. Both Taylor Stricklin and Emma Logan scored eight points. Logan also added five rebounds and six assists. Senior Kylie Smith had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Eagles had three double-digit scorer with Sam Van Loo leading the way with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Maya DuChesne posted 14 points and Lexi Biggerstaff added 13.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Starting off down by almost double-digits in the first quarter 13-4, the Mountaineers struggled to get going but eventually started to connect on shots after a Fielder three pointer, assisted by Nelson. That spark put the Mountaineers into double digits, still trailing 18-10. Scoring three more points to the end the first quarter, EOU was still down by seven 20-13.
Stricklin started the second quarter with a three, cutting their deficit down to four, but Northwest continued to put points up. At 24-22 after a three by senior Whitney Meier, EOU was right on the Eagles' tail. After a made field goal by Stricklin, EOU had the lead 26-25 for the first time, but Northwest quickly regained ending the first half up 30-27.
Going into the second half, the Mountaineers were eager to take the court and take back the lead. With a field goal by Kylie Smith with 5:30 left in the third quarter EOU finally did, 36-34. From then on, it was all Mountaineers, ending the third up 50-44. EOU's second half effort was too much, defeating the Eagles 73-64.
BY THE NUMBERS
16 - The Mountaineers had 16 assists with Logan dishing out six, and seniors Madison Crews and Fielder each adding three.
31 - Eastern finished with 31 bench pointsto Northwest's nine.
44.1- Eastern went 26-for-59 on field goals, shooting 44.1 percent overall.
UP NEXT
The Mountaineers finish off their last regular season home game on Saturday against Evergreen at 5:30 p.m. for Senior Night. The team will honor seven seniors in Andi Warn, Nelson, Smith, Logan, Fielder, Crews and Meier. The Mountaineers have clinched at least one home CCC Championships game in the quarterfinals, with their opponent TBA.
For more information on Eastern Oregon women's basketball, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com.
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu