Photos by Jeff Barrett
By Jordan Buscarini
Kinlee Toomer nearly had a triple-double with 11 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, leading the USU Eastern Lady Eagles to an 89-61 win over the Colorado Northwestern Spartans Saturday afternoon at the BDAC in Price.
USU Eastern wasted little time developing a comfortable cushion as the team knocked down its first six shots to open an immediate double-digit lead. The momentum never changed as the Lady Eagles earned their third straight conference win.
“You always want to start strong, finish strong and play well in the middle of the game and I really thought we did that,” said head coach Chelsey Warburton. “When you start well, you seem to find the flow on both ends. We did and it was a lot of fun.”
Toomer’s all-around dominance was on display throughout as she recorded as many rebounds as Colorado combined in the first quarter. The rest of game came easy as she also logged two steals and did not commit a single turnover.
“That’s her third straight double-double and she had a really great stat line tonight,” Warburton said when asked about Toomer’s performance. “She’s just a strong rebounding point guard and did everything very well tonight.”
Brooklyn Palmer also recorded a double-double as she finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kacelyn Toomer contributed 18 points and Ella Bradley also finished in double-figures with 10.
Scoring the basketball was never a problem for USU Eastern as the team shot 46 percent for the game. The most impressive stretch came in the third quarter as the women converted 9-15 attempts for a 60 percent mark.
Physically, USU Eastern dominated the game on the glass. Finishing with 19 offensive rebounds, the Lady Eagles gathered 58 total boards compared to just 29 for the Spartans.
“That’s a really big thing for our team,” said Warburton when asked about the dominance on the glass. “We love our guards to rebound and then help pick up and they are doing a phenomenal job at that.”
Erin Mauro posted a game-high 14 points for CNCC in the setback. Ending 5-8 from the field, Mauro knocked three shots from beyond the arc. Ta’Nija Watson and Mckleigh Begaye both scored nine while Courtney Freeman finished with eight.
Saturday’s win improves USU Eastern’s conference record to 7-3. Coupled with a Southern Idaho win over Snow College, the win creates a three-team tie at the top of the Scenic West Athletic standings.
USU Eastern will wrap up a three-game home stand on Thursday as Southern Idaho comes to Price for the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The two split the first two meetings, both of which were played in Twin Falls, Idaho.
