USU Eastern Press Release
Utah State Eastern women’s basketball defeated the Central Arizona Vaqueros 73-68 on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. The Eagles were able to bounce back from a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to the Southern Utah All-Stars on Friday to get a win before closing out their non-conference schedule.
“The team responded perfect today. It was fun watching them battle and play together,” said USU Eastern head coach Chelsey Warburton.
From the get go, the Eagles were in control of the game, including a dominating first quarter where they outscored Central Arizona 22-11.
“We started off with a lot of energy and we took them out of their sets early as well. They score a lot of points off of offensive rebounds and points in the paint, but we made them take shots out of their comfort zone to frustrate them a little bit,” said USU Eastern forward Abby Butler.
The Eagles shot well from the field in the first half, something that they didn’t accomplish in Friday’s loss against the All-Stars. On Saturday, they shot 49% from the field and 35% from long distance in the first half.
“They came out confident and shot well tonight. The execution on offense was great but the key was winning the rebound battle,” said Warburton.
The Eagles entered the second half with a five-point lead and did not let go despite the Vaqueros shooting 33% from three and 43% from the field.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles held off Central Arizona by making their free throws. They made 12 of 17 at the free throw line in the closing period. Butler came up big in the fourth quarter and made seven of those free throws on her way to finishing off another great game.
Butler finished the game as the Eagles’ leading scorer with 19 points with nine of those points coming in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Emmery Wagstaff finished the game with 17 points and five rebounds against Central Arizona. Sophomore Alyssa Crumley led the Eagles in rebounding with eight boards while scoring 11 points.
“Alyssa has been huge. When she is rebounding and scoring, it opens up everything. She’s pretty much unstoppable. She’s a great leader and when she is scoring, it gets everyone else going,” said Butler.
The Eagles now have a record of 12-3 with those losses coming by a combined nine points.
Following the win on Saturday, Butler said she feels like that it was a great game for her team to prepare what is next for them on the schedule.
“We are finally figuring out how to play together as a team and it’s going to be fun to see what we can do once conference play starts next week. This was a great game to get us prepared for it,” said Butler.
This the best non-conference record the Eagles have had heading into conference play under Warburton. She took over as head coach of the Eagles in 2015.
“Coach Nelson and I are very proud of the team and what they have accomplished in preseason. We are looking forward to conference play,” said Warburton.
The Eagles will now turn their attention to conference foe Colorado Northwest, a team they will play at home next Saturday inside the BDAC. Tip off against CNCC is scheduled for 3 p.m. and can be seen on the Scenic West Network or via the NJCAA TV App.