BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The No. 11 Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team rallied for a 56-52 win over The College of Idaho Friday.
The Mountaineers (15-4, 7-2 Cascade Collegiate Conference) moved atop the conference standings with the victory. EOU has a half-game lead over Oregon Tech and Corban University. The victory completed the first half of the CCC schedule for Eastern.
The College of Idaho held Eastern to just 32 percent shooting from the field, led for 30 minutes of the game, but could not hold off the Mountaineers. EOU made a season-low 16 shots from the field in the win. Eastern Oregon was 16-of-50 from the field, 6-for-13 from behind the arc, and made 18 of its 25 free throws.
Dominique Johnson led the Mountaineers with 14 points. The redshirt freshman was 3-of-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Brooke Randall added 11 points. Kyle Miller led EOU with three assists and Chayla Jones grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
In a game that pitted the top two teams in the Cascade Collegiate Conference going into the night, C of I led for most of the game. The Lady Yotes jumped out to a 9-0 advantage after a jumper from Laura Geis in the paint. Felicity Jones hit a three-pointer with 14:01 left in the first half to give College of Idaho a 16-5 lead. Four minutes later, Diamond Mitchell matched the Yotes’ largest lead with a jump-shot, 20-9.
The Mountaineers responded with an 11-1 run to cut the lead to 21-20 at the 4:43 mark of the first half. College of Idaho closed the half by scoring the final four points of the half to take a 25-20 lead into halftime.
The Yotes’ largest lead in the second half was seven points twice, the latest coming with 16:19 remaining in regulation after a pair of Meghan Hughes free throws. Eastern evened the score at 39 with a jumper from Johnson with 7:20 left in the game. Korrie Bourn completed a 15-2 EOU run with 3:46 remaining in the second half. It gave the Mountaineers their largest lead of the game, 49-41.
The College of Idaho (11-7, 6-3) outrebounded Eastern Oregon, 41-31. The Lady Yotes held EOU to 21 percent (5-of-23) shooting from the field in the first half, while they were 38 percent. C of I shot 28 percent in the second half, and finished 33 percent from the field. The Yotes made 15 of their 17 free throws and six of their 10 three-pointers.
Geis finished with a double-double, 12 points and 12 rebounds. The transfer from Montana Western was 5-of-12 from the field. She also had five blocks. Felicity Jones threw a team-high three assists. Hughes chipped in 10 points.
Each team finished with 11 assists. The Yotes committed 25 turnovers, while Eastern had 18 turnovers.
The Mountaineers travel to Klamath Falls, to face Oregon Tech (17-3, 6-2) on Jan. 20, for their next game. OIT upset Eastern in La Grande earlier this season, 52-50. The College of Idaho plays Southern Oregon in Ashland, the same night. C of I held off the Raiders (12-7, 3-5) 63-56 on Dec. 17, in Caldwell.