Photo by Jeff Barrett
By Jordan Buscarini
The USU Eastern Lady Eagles split the back half of a four-game road trip, responding to a loss to Salt Lake Community College with a dominating win over Snow College on Saturday afternoon.
Just days after splitting a two-game swing in Idaho, the Lady Eagles returned to the court Wednesday for a massive conference showdown with Salt Lake. Despite a solid performance in the first half, USU Eastern was unable to keep pace over the final 20 minutes, falling 58-49.
The first two quarters provided a back-and-forth affair as USU Eastern captured a slim 26-24 lead heading into the break. The third quarter proved to be the difference as Salt Lake used an 18-5 run to capture a double-digit lead.
USU Eastern attempted just seven shots from the field in the third quarter and did not take one trip to the foul line. Despite shooting 38% from the field for the game, the team connected on just 28% from the field in the third period.
Japrix Weaver posted a team-high nine points in the second conference loss of the season. Summer Christensen, Hadley Humpherys, Ellie Esplin and Brinlee McRae all scored eight.
Salt Lake Community College gathered a massive advantage in offensive rebounding as they secured 13 boards, leading to 11 second chance points. USU Eastern was limited to just three offensive rebounds, resulting in five second chance points.
USU Eastern showed no signs of a letdown as they returned to the court on Saturday with an 86-53 win over the Snow College Badgers in Ephraim.
Opening a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, USU Eastern extended its advantage to 45-19 entering the break. The second half was a formality as the Lady Eagles improved to 5-2 in Scenic West Athletic Conference play.
The Lady Eagles set the tone defensively, turning 18 Badger turnovers into 25 points. The second unit also played a huge part as the bench outscored Snow College 38-12.
Weaver once again led the way offensively as she poured in a team-high 14 points on 6-9 shooting in just 22 minutes of action. Humphreys gathered a team best six boards to go along with 13 points. McRae and Madison Anderson combined to score 22 points to lead the bench mob.
USU Eastern will now take an entire week off before resuming conference play on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at home in a rematch with Salt Lake.