By Cory McKendrick, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
The Utah State University Eastern women’s basketball team was on the road in Ephraim as visitors to the Snow College Badgers. The Eagles emerged victorious after trailing late in the fourth quarter. The final score from the Horne Activity Center was 64-59.
The Eagles bounced back from their loss to Salt Lake Community College the previous week. They extended their matchup win streak against the Badgers to three games with this victory, improving their record since 2013 to 7-10 against Snow.
Yet another career night for Margarett Otuafi highlighted the team win for the Eagles. Otuafi had a career high in points as she led all scorers, torching the net for 27. She was 11-19 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. She also added five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals to her stat line for the night. Otuafi was complemented by a solid performance from fellow post player Harley Carlisle, who chipped in 10 points and had two offensive rebounds.
The game saw 17 lead changes and 10 instances when the score was tied. Snow led for the majority of the game, leading for 18 minutes. The Eagles outscored the Badgers in the fourth quarter, 18-13, propelling them to victory.
The dagger in the game came when the Eagles were up by two with less than 30 seconds remaining. Kacelyn Toomer drilled a three pointer to ice the game for the Eagles. Toomer was a force in the game as well with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Head coach Chelsey Warburton said of her team’s effort late in the game, “This was a hard-fought game for our team. We were able to battle and made plays in the final minutes. We had a great night at the free throw line, which was key in the win.”
The team improves to 22-4 on the season and 7-2 in conference. They trail Salt Lake Community College in conference play, who is at 8-1. The next game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15 against the Colorado Northwestern Community College Spartans in Rangely, CO.