Photo by Jeff Barrett
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The USU Eastern women’s basketball team opened the 2023-24 season with a bang, defeating Western Wyoming Community College 73-64 Friday afternoon in Ephraim.
Locked in a 52-52 tie entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Eagles outscored Western Wyoming 21-12 over the final 10 minutes to earn the win.
“It was a great team effort and win,” said head coach Chelsey Warburton. “We gave them 20 points from the free throw line, but were able to pull ahead at the end. The difference was our defense and rebounding.”
The Lady Eagles finished plus-18 in the rebound category as they gathered 51 throughout the game, 22 of which came on the offensive glass. Defensively, USU Eastern allowed Western Wyoming to shoot just 33% from the field.
Hadley Humphreys led a dominating effort from the USU Eastern second unit as she finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds to register the team’s lone double-double. Ellie Esplin poured in a team-best 17 points off the bench to lead USU Eastern in scoring. Playing 28 minutes in a reserve role, Esplin shot 7-15 from the field, including 3-6 from beyond the three-point line.
Summer Christiansen was the only USU Eastern starter to reach double-figures as she scored 12 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Returning sophomore Janel Blazzard scored seven points, while newcomer Japrix Weaver chipped in with five points.
Friday afternoon’s season opener was the first of two games this weekend for the Lady Eagles. On Saturday afternoon, the Lady Eagles moved to 2-0 on the season with a 67-62 win over No. 14 Casper College.
Japrix Weaver scored 16 points off the bench as the Lady Eagles used a big third quarter to capture a comfortable lead. The win marked the second in as many days following the victory Friday over Western Wyoming.
Trailing 17-15 at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Eagles managed to capture a 29-28 lead heading into the break. USU Eastern continued to roll by, outscoring Casper 20-13 in the third quarter and extending the lead to double-digits early in the fourth.
Ellie Esplin was one of three USU Eastern starters to reach double-figures as she finished with 10 points and five assists. Olivia Nielson and Hadley Humpherys both scored 10, while Summer Christensen chipped in with nine.
Offensively, USU Eastern created an advantage by knocking down 10 three-point shots, compared to just three for Casper. The consistent shooting from deep helped the Lady Eagles overcome a large deficit at the free throw line as they finished with 10 less attempts than Casper.
USU Eastern’s depth was once again on display in the team’s second win of the season as 11 players saw the court.
With the weekend set now in the books, the Lady Eagles will prepare for a three-game road trip beginning Thursday against Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. Friday, the team will travel to Phoenix to meet Phoenix College and will then wrap up the weekend trek on Saturday against Glendale Community College.