THREE GAMES LEFT IN SWAC PLAY

Sam Hall

sports editor

The weekend split even with a win and a loss for Utah State University Eastern

women’s basketball.

Winning Feb. 7, 75-65 against the College of Southern Idaho

Golden Eagles in Twin Falls, Idaho and a 705-53 loss Feb. 9, against the Salt Lake Community College Bruins in Taylorsville, Utah.

Eastern started the game against CSI on re going on a 12-4 run before the first full timeout was called. The Eagles passed the ball well and hit their shots, playing well as a team during the streak.

“We were sharing the ball really well and we hit the open shots. We were playing together as a team, which is exactly what we needed,” Freshman Rylie Tobiasson said.

Seconds after the timeout, CSI bounced back into the game, cutting the lead to one point with a minute left in the period.

In the second quarter, Eastern struck back at CSI. The Eagles held their lead and extended it to 16, giving the team con dence and energy. The Eagles, bench gained momentum in the second quarter, as

When I got called to go in, my first thought was to play for the team and assist them in any way I could… the second quarter really helped all of us with our con dence and gave us the energy to play harder,” Tobiasson said.

Eastern lead by nine in rebounds and shot 6-12 from the three-point

line in the first half, which gave them a 12-point-lead at halftime. Starting the second half, the Eagles struggled to score, going 1-7 from the eld and 0-3 from deep. CSI shot 50 percent from the eld and forced three Eastern turnovers.

“We had a couple minutes that we did not share the ball and didn’t

play together,” USU Eastern head coach Chelsey Warburton said. In the third quarter, the Eagles were outscored 10-9 and shot 26 percent from the eld. Despite Eastern’s struggles, they held on to a 50-48 lead to end the quarter.

In the third alone, the Eagles were outscored 19-9 and shot 26 percent from the floor. However, the team changed their play in the fourth quarter and went on an 11-4 run.

“We hit some key shots, stayed focused and made plays down the stretch to keep the lead,” Warburton said. Eastern outscored the Golden Eagles 25-17. Guard Lamija Coric led with seven points. She also led the Eagles in scoring on Thursday, with a career-high 23 points. She had two assists and four rebounds, and is ranked 16 in three-point-shooting 44.4 percent. Coric also is ranked in the top four in free-throws in the country. “Lamija set the tone for us early, she played con dent and it showed,” Warburton said.

Fresh- man Morgan Toluono scored 15 points, while picking up seven rebounds and three assists against CSI. The Eagles out rebounded CSI 43-34 and scored

18 points on second-chance-opportunities. “Our rebounding tonight was great…We took away their second

chances and we knew that if they got second chances it would have been a completely different game,” Tobiasson said.

Thursday’s win in Twin Falls was the first win over CSI under Warburton and the second win over CSI this season.

“It is a loud gym to play in, which makes for a great environment. Tonight’s win was a much needed win for our squad,” Warburton said. The win against CSI moves the Eagles to third place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings but with a rough game on Saturday, the Eagles returned to fourth place due to a 70-53 loss against Salt Lake Community College Bruins in Taylorsville, Utah. Eastern’s Fan Appreciation night succeeded in fan support but was a rough game for the players as the Eagles lost 63-53 to the Bruins on Jan. 31. The game was filled with energy and dedication to the eld but the win slipped out of their fingers as the Bruins pulled away with the win.

Eastern lost to the Bruins a second time on Saturday, Feb. 9.

During the first quarter, the teams went back and forth until the Bruins took a six-point lead. Freshman guards Amiperia Ti’a and Emmery Wagstaff led the Eagles, who were down by three by the end of the first quarter. Wagstaff and Ti’a scored all 12 points for the

Eagles and earned a combined six rebounds “Emmery and Ami both had great in the first period. games and are providing us with key minutes as freshman,” War- burton said.

The Bruins extended their lead with as much as 10 due to turnovers by Eastern. The Eagles gave up six turnovers in the second quarter, with the Bruins scoring eight points off those turnovers.

Even after many turnovers, the Eagles kept the rebounding battle close, with the Bruins leading by one rebound in the first half.

The Bruins dominated in shooting in the third quarter, as they outscored Eastern 22-7. During the third quarter, the Bruins went 9-14 from the eld, while Eastern went 3-13. Eastern shot 46.7 per- cent from the eld and 2-4 from deep to outscore the Bruins 20-15 in the fourth quarter.

“The team continued to battle, despite our low scoring third quarter,” Warburton said.

Leading the team, Ti’a nished with 14 points. Wagstaff led with nine rebounds, 10 points and two steals against the Bruins.

The loss on Saturday puts Eastern at four wins and ve losses in conference play and 16-8

overall with three games left in the season. Eastern will return home on Thursday, Feb. 14

for a matchup against Snow College, which will be the third and

final conference game between the Eagles and the Badgers. “Against Snow on Thursday we will need to control the rebounds, push the ball and follow the defensive scout,” Warburton said.

Come support Eastern as they take on the Badgers. Thursday’s game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside the BDAC.