Photo by Jeff Barrett
By Jordan Buscarini, KOAL Drive Time Sports
USU Eastern hosted Fan Appreciation Night on Wednesday as they welcomed the College of Southern Idaho to campus. Coming in with a 22-1 record, CSI was ranked No. 5 nationally. When they left, the USU Eastern Lady Eagles handed them their second loss of the season with a 63-58 victory.
The Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center was packed as Fan Appreciation offered free admission, free food and great basketball that went down to the wire.
In the first quarter, it seemed that no one wanted to score until Kinlee Toomer scored the first two of her 15 points at the 6:41 mark. The quarter remained pretty quiet, ending with USU Eastern holding a slim two-point lead, 10-8, after one.
The two teams battled back and forth in the second quarter, trading bucket after bucket until the three minute mark when CSI’s Sadie Gronning, who scored 11 in the game, put her team on top for the only time in the contest at 20-18.
In the third, USU Eastern went up by as much as 13, but every time they tried to distance themselves, CSI would come charging back, cutting USU Eastern’s lead to as little as two points with just 0:37 left in the game. Then began the parade to the foul line as CSI was forced to send USU Eastern to the line. Free throws from Ella Bradley and Brooklyn Palmer sealed the deal, pushing the lead to five. A missed jumper by Gronning was all that was left as the Lady Eagles took the win.
Ella Bradley came up huge for USU Eastern with a game and season high 26 points, double her season average, on 10-16 shooting. Toomer also added six rebounds and five assists to go with her 15. Brooklyn Palmer scored seven and pulled down nine boards.
USU Eastern now sits at 11-11 overall and holds a 7-5 record in conference play. With the season winding down, they will be playing six games in 12 days, starting with two at home against Salt Lake Community College, then a trip to Twin Falls to face CSI once more and back home for a match against the College of Southern Nevada. Finally, they end the regular season with two games at Colorado Northwestern. To say they will be busy is an understatement.