Lady Eagles drop 2, win 1
The big, bad, undefeated in SWAC conference play, Salt Lake Community College Bruins, came into the BDAC Friday, Jan. 18 and mauled the Lady Eagles 70-57. (the bruins lost last weekend to CSI)
The first half of the game was close with the Eagles taking a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime. The difference seemed to be conditioning because three-point shooting and free-throw shooting percentages went way down in the second half.
This archived article was written by: Scott Frederick
The big, bad, undefeated in SWAC conference play, Salt Lake Community College Bruins, came into the BDAC Friday, Jan. 18 and mauled the Lady Eagles 70-57. (the bruins lost last weekend to CSI)
The first half of the game was close with the Eagles taking a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime. The difference seemed to be conditioning because three-point shooting and free-throw shooting percentages went way down in the second half.
Coach Dave Paur said, “I won’t ever let my team have such a long break again” referring to their long stretch of inactivity during the Christmas break.
Paur’s analysis seems to hold up when looking at the stat sheet. The Eagles shot around 28 percent from the floor for the entire game. Three-point shooting and free-throw shooting were a different story however. Three-point shooting dropped from 36 percent in the first half to 23 percent in the second. Free-throw shooting percentage dropped from 75 percent in the first half to 44 percent in the second.
Contrast this with SLCC shooting 45 percent from the field for the game and improving from 33 to 50 percent three-point shooting from the first half to the second half, and going from 61 percent free-throw shooting in the first half to 81 percent in the second.
What doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is the aggressive way both teams played. There was some serious bumping and slapping going on. It’s amazing there were not more than the 65 fouls called during this contest. Both teams got away with hard hand and body checks.
The Bruins dominated the glass racking up 43 rebounds to the Eagles 26. The Eagles tough D paid off as they grabbed 10 steals to the Bruins six, the Eagles also had one-blocked shot to the Bruins zero blocks.
The Bruins had three players get into double digits. Michelle Pace, Krista Farr and BreAnne Haslam got 17, 16 and 14 points respectively.
Scoring for the Eagles came from primarily two players, Kendra Dalebout had 17 and Erin Richardson had 13. The Bruins effectively shut down all the other Eagle players with no one else getting more than six points.
Snow College
Saturday Jan. 19 the Snow College Badgers grounded the Eagles 78-72 in the BDAC.
Poor shooting continues to plague the Eagles and is probably the reason the Eagles have lost winnable games. This game was defiantly winnable for the Eagles, but shooting 27 percent is not going to get it done most of the time, especially when your opponent shoots 37 percent.
Snow’s offensive attack was balanced and consistent with four players getting into double-digit scoring. Cori Nielson was the leading scorer for Snow with 17.
Leading all scorers was Eagle freshman Amber Strong who hit seven of 12 from the field including four for five from beyond the arc for 19 points. Strong also showed her quickness by grabbing three steals.
Three point shooting by the Eagles was a low 19 percent compared to the Badger’s 53 percent. Free-throw shooting for the Eagles was a solid 80 percent but could not make up for missed baskets from the field.
NWCC
Scrappy Colorado Northwestern came into the BDAC last Saturday and for the first half looked as if they were going to hand the Eagles a loss but the Eagles got it together in the second half and came back for a 86-50 romp.
The Eagles looked like themselves in this game shooting 34 percent from the field, 26 percent from three-point territory and 69 percent form the line.
Erin Richardson got on the board with 13 points, Brandi King also had 13 and Dalebout led the Eagles in scoring with 19.
The Eagles full court press was relentless, causing the Spartans to rush shots and, by the time they worked the ball to their side of the court, the shot clock had nearly expired.
The Eagles dominated the game racking up 14 steals to the Spartans five, five blocks to the Spartans zero and 59 rebounds to the Spartans 33. Speaking of rebounds Dalebout and Kasey Day each had 15 showing their dominance in the paint.
The Eagles face the Spartans again next weekend in Rangely and come home for the next two weekends. They face the College of Southern Idaho on Feb. 8 at 5:30 and again Sat Feb 9 at 1 p.m. in the BDAC.
