Women’s preview: Eastern vs Snow

This archived article was written by: Scott Froehlich

The Utah State University Eastern Eagles women’s basketball team face one of their long-time foes on Thursday, Feb. 8, playing host to the Snow College Badgers. The Badgers look to continue their impressive run, whereas the Eagles have hit a few roadblocks early on and are trying to regain their footing. With the matchup falling on USUE’s annual “Fan Appreciation Day,” the teams will play undoubtedly play in front of a packed arena at the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center.
In the first couple weeks of SWAC play, Snow positioned themselves atop of the Scenic West Athletic Conference. They share the spot with the No. 9 nationally ranked Salt Lake Community College Bruins, and look poised to take sole possession early on. For a team that was just a game shy of playing .500 basketball last season, the Badgers seem to have found another gear to propel them well beyond last year’s trend.
Up to this point, Snow asserted themselves as a team to be reckoned with, winning four out of their first five matches, with a couple of games to play before the big tilt against USUE. While their record might not suggest it, the Badgers had a few games nearly slip away from them, including their first meeting with the Eagles. In a game that Snow nearly let slip away, they squeaked by with a narrow 62-61 victory, despite USUE’s late push.
Next Thursday’s game will be an especially important challenge for the Eagles, and they’ll look to break a lengthy losing streak against the Badgers. Over the past five seasons, USUE has a 4-12 record against Snow, having dropped their last 12 during that time. It would take going all the way back to January of 2014 to track the Eagles’ last victory, so they will be looking to change history in front of their home crowd.