Women’s basketball destroys competition
The Utah State University Eastern Eagles took on Central Wyoming Community College in a 70-41 victorious win. The Eagles started the game off hot, taking the lead in the first quarter 23-9, as they went on to win the second and third quarter as well. Sophomore Janel Blazzard scored 11 points in 17 minutes. Kianna Lighthall added onto the win with eight points. Summer Christensen led the Eagles’ starting lineup with five points, four rebounds, and four assists. Ellie Esplin finished the game with six points and three assists. Hadley Humphreys scored six and had a team high of 10 rebounds to help out the Eagles. The Lady Eagles were hot from inside the paint as they scored 36 of their 70 points. USU Eastern’s defensive side was exceptional as they forced 18 turnovers, 14 of those being steals. Ellie Esplin and McKenzie Allen both had four takeaways.
Eastern next faced Yavapai College in a home non-conference game. The Eagles went back and forth with Yavapai ending the first quarter tied 19-19. They edged their way to the lead as they won the second quarter, leading 38-33. The game completely changed in the third quarter as the Lady Eagles scored 23 points to Yavapai’s two. The defensive side for the Eagles was dominant as Yavapai had 20 turnovers in the game, which resulted in 26 points for USUE. Summer Christensen led USUE with a team high of 13 points, five rebounds, and four steals. Ellie Esplin scored 10 points with six rebounds. Japrix Weaver also reached double digits with 10 points. The Eagles took the win over Yavapai 74-51.
USU Eastern continued their non-conference slate with a trip to Las Vegas for three games. The Eagles left the trip with three more wins on the season. Their wins were over Western Wyoming Community College, Lethbridge College, and Central Arizona College at the CSN Holiday Tournament. USU Eastern started the tournament off with a win over Western Wyoming Community College, 91-62. They started with a 12-point first quarter lead. The Eagles never trailed in the game. Hadley Humphreys was putting up points, left and right, for the Eagles as she had a team high of 19 points with a perfect shooting percentage, 9-9. Humphreys also recorded 16 rebounds which gave her a double-double for the game. Kianna Lighthall scored 14 points in this game, Japrix Weaver poured in another 11 in the game as well as four blocks.
USU Eastern returned to the court with the same energy, the following day, as they won 80-46 over Lethbridge College. The USUE bench came out ready to play as they were electric with 40 points. Brinlee McRae scored 14 points with eight rebounds. Madison Anderson hit six out of her seven shots, scoring 12 points. Japrix Weaver was a big factor in this win scoring 12 points in 21 minutes of playing. Summer Christensen, Lighthall and Humphreys all had eight points. The Eagles never trailed behind in this game and also led in every statistical category. The defensive side was also a huge factor for Eastern as they forced 26 turnovers, which turned into 29 of their points.
USU Eastern’s last game of the Las Vegas tournament resulted in a win over Central Arizona College, 93-54. The Eagles trailed for the first time in the tournament within the first few minutes of the game, but quickly turned as the Eagles outscored Central Arizona the rest of the game. Hadley Humphreys was once again a huge factor in the paint for the Eagles, she scored a team high of 17 points and had 13 rebounds along with it. Summer Christensen and Japrix Weaver both scored double digits with 16 and 15 points. This win against Central Arizona gave the Eagles a six-game winning streak.
Utah State Eastern Lady Eagles were locked in coming back from break, as they won both games over Community Christian College, 99-17 and 115-16 following day. Japrix Weaver was 8-11, scoring 23 points for the Eagles in the Wednesday win. The Eagles shot 51 percent from the field, this is the Eagles fourth win scoring 90, or more, points. Hadley Humphreys posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, white Ellie Esplin and Janel Blazzard also finished the game with 10 points. Every player who entered the game scored at least two points in these wins. USU kept their fire in them the next day as they shot 64 percent from the field and 43 percent from the three resolving in a 99-point win. Hadley Humphreys recorded another double-double scoring 19 with 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes of playing. Madison Anderson scored 19 points, while Ellie Esplin chipped in with 10. These wins put the Lady Eagles at a 15-1 overall record this season and a 2-0 win in conference play.
USU Eastern took on College of Southern Nevada as they extended their record to now 16-1 with a win 74-64. Ellie Esplin and Summer Christensen lead the team in scoring, Esplin with 12 and Christensen with 17. The two combined for 12 rebounds. Brinlee McRae had 11 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes. The win extended the Eagles’ win streak to nine games.
The Lady Eagles will now face the College of Southern Idaho at their place on Jan. 18.
