Photo by Jeff Barrett
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The USU Eastern Lady Eagles opened Scenic West Athletic Conference play with a bang as they defeated the Snow College Badgers 69-67 Thursday night in Ephraim.
Locked in a tight battle throughout the game, USU Eastern outscored the Badgers 21-17 in the fourth quarter to secure the two-point victory.
Thursday’s contest was the first for the Lady Eagles since traveling to Wyoming on Nov. 20. Faced with several obstacles, the team dressed just seven players in the conference showdown.
“Snow College’s really big team and their inside game is always a factor,” said assistant coach Morgan Nelson. “When you’re down to seven players, you just hope your kids can last defensively. We were just extremely proud to walk out of there with a win.”
Kinlee Toomer poured in a game-high 27 points on an efficient 7-14 shooting performance from the field to lead the Lady Eagles. Toomer also grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists.
“Kinlee had an edge about her from the start of the game,” said Nelson. “We came out a little flat, so we just had to settle in and we suddenly clicked and a lot of that had to do with her setting a tone.”
Brooklyn Palmer added 14 points to help push the USU Eastern offensive production. Alexandra Olson also reached double-figures as she finished with 11.
USU Eastern took advantage of opportunities given as they connected on 16-18 foul shots for the game. Perimeter shooting also played a factor as the Lady Eagles ended 11-23, compared to Snow’s 3-12.
Now 4-4 overall on the season, USU Eastern will return home on Saturday as they welcome in the College of Southern Nevada Coyotes for the first of three meetings this season.
With wins over Community Christian and Colorado Northwestern, the Coyotes will enter Saturday’s game with a 2-1 conference mark and a 6-5 record overall. USU Eastern is currently riding a four-game winning streak.
Tip-off for Saturday’s conference game is scheduled for 1 p.m.