Eagles prepare for conference tournament
The Utah State University Eastern Eagles women’s basketball team went up against the College of Southern Nevada in a battle that ended in a loss 58-65. The Eagles were neck-and-neck with the Coyotes every quarter only trailing behind by a couple points, but Southern Nevada made clutch shots to put them ahead for good. Japrix Weaver was the leading scorer for the Eagles with 16 points shooting 6-8 from inside the paint as well as six points from deep. Hadley Humphreys was right behind with 12 points and a team high of seven rebounds. Other Eagles, Ellie Esplin and Summer Christensen both had seven points each as well as four rebounds each to contribute to the team.
Eastern returned home to face the College of Southern Idaho today in a matchup. Both teams battled in the first quarter making it 13-13 at the end but Southern Idaho took the lead by more than 10 points after the second quarter. CSI took the lead from there ever since and came out with the win 64-49. Summer Christensen had a team high for Utah State Eastern with 16 points shooting 6-12 on the day. Hadley Humphreys scored double digits as well with 13 points and eight rebounds to help contribute. For CSI Jamisyn Heaton scored a double-double for them with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Jayden McNeal and Kennedy Gillette also had double digit points McNeal with 14 and Gillette with 10 points.
The Eagles took the court, on Sophomore Day, to face North Idaho College and won in a beatdown 87-49. The Eagles came back to play and didn’t let the two previous losses get to them as they came out victorious today. The Eagles came out with a bang outscoring North Idaho in the first quarter 26-11 and outscored them in every quarter after that. Ellie Esplin was a huge key to this win as she had the team high of 16 points shooting 6-8 from in the paint as well as three points from deep. Hadley Humphreys was right behind Esplin in points with 15 and 11 rebounds making it a double-double for Humphreys. Three other Eagles scored double digit points in this win Summer Christensen had 13 points and seven rebounds, Brinlee McRae with 12 points and two rebounds, and McKenzie Allen with 11 points including four steals. As a team, Utah State Eastern shot more that 50 percent from the field goal and shot 44 percent from deep, scoring 21 points. The Eagles were on point with their free throws as well shooting more than 70 percent.
With this win, Utah State Eastern will now prepare for the regional tournament starting on Mar. 15. The Eagles will most likely face off against Salt Lake Community College as Eastern is slated to be the No. 4 seed in the Scenic West Athletic Conference Tournament.
