By Calvin Jensen, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
There are no signs of slowing down for the USU Eastern women’s basketball team as they traveled to Twin Falls on Thursday to take on North Idaho College.
In the first two quarters of play, it looked as if the matchup between the two teams would be a close contest with a 29-25 score in favor of the Lady Eagles going into halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Lady Eagles found the intensity they have been playing with since the beginning of the season. Shooting 57% from the field and outscoring the Cardinals 16-9 in the third quarter, the Eagles improved their lead to 13 points. A barrage of points in the paint allowed USU Eastern to close out the game with an impressive 69-50 win.
The Lady Eagles dominated the boards with a 46-25 rebounding advantage. Despite poor shooting of 4-20 behind the arc, the team outscored the Cardinals 42-20 in the paint overall. A solid offensive performance by the starters allowed for continued pressure on the Cardinals that ended in a final score margin the Lady Eagles are getting accustomed to.
Kacelyn Toomer played 33 minutes and led the Eagles with 15 points and six assists. Morgan Toluono led with an impressive 11 rebounds in her 16 minutes of play. Sharne Pupuke-Robati added 14 points and nine rebounds while Margarett Otuafi had a near perfect shooting game, going 5-6 from the field, 1-1 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the line.
When asked about the game, assistant coach Morgan Warburton-Nelson said, “Despite a slower start on both ends of the floor, we are happy with the team’s willingness to keep grinding through those tough moments. We challenged them at the half to set a different tone and they did just that. A few key plays late in the game gave us the momentum to push the lead and end the day on a high note.”