BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The No. 25 Eastern Oregon University women’s basketball team cruised to an 88-57 win over sixth-seeded Northwest University in the first round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Tuesday.
The third-seeded Mountaineers (23-7) eased past NU for the second straight season in the CCC Tournament quarterfinals. EOU moves to Friday’s semifinal game at The College of Idaho. Since falling at C of I on Feb. 10, Eastern has won the past four games by an average of 25.2 points.
Tuesday, EOU was led by Dominique Johnson’s career-high 23 points. The freshman was 9-of-16 from the field, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc. Kyle Miller added 17 points, making three of her four attempts from three-point range. Korrie Bourn and Brooke Randall scored 14 and 12 points respectively.
Bourn had her sixth double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds. Randall and Kelsea Hurliman each threw four assists.
Eastern finished 50 percent from the field, and 10-of-22 from behind the perimeter. EOU has made 37 three-pointers in the past four games, making 44 percent of its three-point shots.
The Mountaineers improved to 17-3 this season when they have outrebounded their opponents. Eastern Oregon had a 53-40 rebound advantage over the Eagles. EOU also threw 21 assists and forced Northwest into 16 turnovers. Eastern committed 17 turnovers.
The Mountaineers’ bench still has yet to be outscored by an opponent’s bench, as EOU had a 44-9 advantage Tuesday. Eastern also had a 46-18 points in the paint advantage.
The Eagles (11-16) jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game. NU made five three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Domi Mendezona, Carol Howard and Emily Drivstuen each hit a pair of three-pointers in the opening half. Howard and Mendezona combined for 23 first half points.
Trailing 25-22 with 9:51 remaining in the first half, Eastern Oregon went on a 26-10 run to close the period, and take a 48-35 lead into halftime.
Eastern opened the second half by scoring the first 10 points. The Mountaineers held Northwest scoreless through the first six minutes of the second period. The Eagles scored their first field goal seven minutes into the second half.
The Mountaineers kept NU to 16 percent shooting from the field in the second half, including 2-of-20 from behind the arc. NU was 25 percent from field in the game, 8-of-35 from three-point range, and 13-for-20 from the free-throw line. The 25 percent shooting from the field was a season-low for an opponent against EOU.
Mendezona finished with a team-high 20 points. The sophomore was 6-of-18 from the field. Howard added 16 points and eight rebounds. Ebany Herd had three assists and three steals.
The game was a rematch between last season’s three-seed and six-seed first round matchup in Kirkland, Wash. In that game, Eastern Oregon rolled to a 90-65 win. The Mountaineers complete a three-game sweep over Northwest this season. The two regular season meetings were decided by a combined six points. The past six regular season games between the schools have been separated by only 26 points.
In the other CCC quarterfinal matches, top-seeded Corban beat eighth-seeded Evergreen, 60-48. Fourth-seeded Warner Pacific beat fifth-seeded Oregon Tech in Portland, 76-58. And, College of Idaho toppled seventh-seeded Southern Oregon, 75-60.
Eastern and second-seeded College of Idaho (20-8) split the regular season meetings, with the home team winning each time. The Mountaineers won in La Grande, 56-52, but fell in Caldwell, 44-40. The last time EOU and the Lady Yotes met in the CCC Tournament was in the 2010 championship game. C of I won at home, 70-67.
Friday’s game at No. 20 College of Idaho will have live video and stats available on EOUSports.com. Live radio will be on KUBQ 98.7 FM. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain Time.