LA GRANDE, Ore. – The (RV) Eastern Oregon University women’s basketball team returned to its winning ways on Saturday night after breezing past Corban, 81-55, at Quinn Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (14-8, 10-3 CCC) shot 51.6 percent (32-for-62) from the field and nailed 12 three’s in the win.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Senior guard Jordan Klebaum paced EOU with a game-high 22 points, including six three’s and seven assists. Junior guard Darian Gasseling netted 12 points off the bench, while senior forward Madeline Laan added 10 points in just 18 minutes of action.
Jade Lowery led the Warriors (11-10, 6-6 CCC) with 20 points on 8-for-19 shooting.
THE STORYLINE
The opening quarter saw a pair of ties before Gasseling and senior guard Maloree Moss tossed in layups to give EOU the lead for good. With 19 seconds left in the frame, senior guard Kelsey Hill swooshed a three to put the Mountaineers on top by five (21-16) going into the second quarter.
Neither team found the bottom of the net until the 7:13 mark of the second quarter, as Corban netted four-straight points to slim EOU’s advantage to one (21-20). Klebaum responded with a triple, and then senior forward Nikki Osborne scored on a left-handed drive to the hoop to put EOU back up by six (26-20) with 5:14 left in the second stanza.
EOU took a 10-point (35-25) lead into the locker room. The Mountaineers hit five three’s and shot 48.4 percent (15-for-31) from the field.
The Mountaineers opened the third quarter with a 17-6 run capped by five-straight points from Hill. Lowery put together an eight-point flurry in a less than a minute, and then Sadie Pilgeram knocked down a triple to make it a 13-point (55-42) game. However, Gasseling and Klebaum closed the third frame with three’s to stretch the Mountaineers’ lead back to 19.
EOU shot 7-for-15 from the field in the fourth quarter, and Corban never got closer than 17 in the stanza. The final score (81-55) proved to be the Mountaineers’ largest lead (26) of the contest, and EOU raced to its 10th conference victory of the 2015-16 campaign.
STATS OF THE GAME
10 – EOU improved to 8-0 on the season when hitting 10 or more three’s. The Mountaineers hit 12 against Corban, six of which came from Klebaum.
UP NEXT
EOU hits the road to Washington for a pair of games against Evergreen (Jan. 29) and Northwest (Jan. 30). Tipoff against Geoducks on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m.