USUE Press Release
Utah State Eastern women’s basketball defeated the Colorado Northwest Spartans 91-45 in Thursday’s Region XVIII Tournament opening round game in Ephraim.
Freshman Brooklynn Barrus got the offense going for the Eagles in the first quarter with two three pointers made in the first two minutes. The Eagles outscored the Spartans 29-9 in the first quarter.
“She needed it for energy and confidence but she started well, finished well and it got the team going as well,” said Utah State Eastern head coach Chelsey Warburton.
The scoring continued in the second quarter as eight different Eagles got on the board by the end of the first half. Five different players made a three for USU Eastern in the first half as well.
With a 30-point first half lead, the Eagles went to their bench in the second half and got contributions from a host of players. Every player that was available to play got minutes for Warburton.
“It was huge deal. It’s the region tournament and its different from season games. We got kids in, got reps and put shots up. We rested some kids and everyone got some time,” said Warburton.
All but two players scored a basket for the Eagles with the bench scoring 34 points. Freshman Cadee Berrett scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench on Thursday.
Barrus finished the game with a team-high 16 points along with four rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Madison Loftus and freshman Alyssa Crumley each had 10 points. Sophomore Kaitlin Toluono finished the night with 12 points and five rebounds.
With the win on Thursday night, the Eagles will advance to the tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon against the top seed Salt Lake Community College.
SLCC has defeated the Eagles three times already this season and Barrus said her team will have to play well together to get the upset on Friday night.
“We just need to play as a team and lock down on defense and need to keep our energy high. When we do that, we are pretty hard to beat,” said Barrus.
Tip off for Friday night’s game is schedule for 5:30 p.m. inside the Horne Activity Center on the Snow College campus.
The winner will advance to the tournament championship game on Saturday to face the winner of Southern Idaho and Snow College.