By Calvin Jensen, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
With both USU Eastern and Salt Lake receiving votes in the national rankings last week, the pressure could be felt inside the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center Thursday night in an epic battle between the two leading programs in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.
Salt Lake took advantage of Eagle turnovers late in the first quarter to take an 18-12 lead over USU Eastern. Knowing they couldn’t get further behind against a tough Salt Lake team, USU Eastern came alive out of the break and outscored the Bruins 19-5 in the second quarter, giving them a 31-23 advantage going into the half.
The Bruins slowly whittled away at the Eagles’ advantage, gaining a one-point lead with a score of 46-45 by the end of the third. The fourth quarter was a basket-for-basket clash with several lead changes throughout. A couple missed shots by the Lady Eagles in the final seconds of the ball game gave the Salt Lake Bruins the advantage, snapping the Eagle’s seven-game win streak by a score of 61-56.
Forward Margarett Otuafi wowed the home crowd, shooting 44% from the floor in her career high 18-point night. Otuafi also added three rebounds and three assists in the game. Sharne Robati and Morgan Toluono each added 12 points in the contest with eleven rebounds collectively.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
