Win
over Cascade matches 2001-02 best start
Mountaineers upend T-Birds for the third time this seasonJanuary
31, 2004
Box
Score
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Mountaineers had
a great opportunity tonight to get playing time for many of the
players that regularly do not play many minutes.
Eastern Oregon held Cascade to 18 first
half points and 24% shooting for the game, to match their best ever
start to a season in a 72-32 win over the Thunderbirds at Quinn
Coliseum.
The win pushed the Mountaineer's season
record to 18-2, matching the 2001-02 team's start. That team ended up
winning the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular-season title and
finishing the year at 20-5. In 2001-02, the women's Cascade
Conference regular-season winner did not have an automatic berth to
the NAIA National Tournament, this year they will, as Oregon Tech's
addition of women's basketball to the Conference gives the CCC 10
teams and two automatic berths to Sioux City, IA in March.
Tonight, the Mountaineers dominated
every facet of the game, except for the rebounding, where they barely
edged out the Thunderbirds, 38-35. Eastern shot 57% in the
second half, scoring 41 points to Cascade's 14.
Eastern outscored Cascade 36-12 in the
paint and converted 28 Thunderbird turnovers into 32 points. The
Mountaineers led from start to finish and outscored Cascade 16-0 in
fast break points.
The Mountaineer's Christy Weaver
led all scorers with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from
the floor, including 3 treys. She also contributed 5 rebounds and 2
steals in a team-high 24 minutes.
Brye Quatre hit both of her
shots on the evening and pulled in 2 rebounds. Little-used 6-3 center
Sarah Smith had 4 points and 5 rebounds in 15 minutes on the
floor.
Starting point guard Tricia Haddock
was the only other Mountaineer in double-figures with 12 points,
she also dished out 5 assists in just 22 minutes.
However the reduced playing time this
evening was not a plus for one starter. Jamie Jo Cant was
held to just one point for just he second time in her collegiate career. Cant took just
five shots in 17 minutes, but did contribute to the team effort with 3
assists, 3 steals and 3 rebounds. The last time Cant did not
score a field goal in
a Mountaineer ballgame was also against Cascade College in February of
2002..
Top rebounding honors go to Candice
Davis, who had 6 boards, followed by the f5 rebounds of Weaver and
Sarah Smith.
Davis, along with her 6 rebounds, was a
perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 1-of-1 from the line for 9 points.
Eastern Oregon now owns a two game lead
over Oregon Tech in the search for that second-ever CCC regular-season
title and a berth to the NAIA National Championship tournament, March
6-12, in Sioux City, IA.
The Mountaineers must still face the
Lady Owls in Klamath Falls two weeks from tonight, but before then,
they must travel to Albertson next Saturday and Southern Oregon the
Friday before the OIT matchup.
In a special note: The
Mountaineer Booster Club bus trip to Albertson on February 7 still has
spots available. If anyone would like to make the trip to Caldwell to
root on the Mountaineers, please contact the EOU Athletic Department
at 962-3364. Cost is $35 and includes round-trip transportation,
admission to the game, and hosted socials before, in-between and after
each game. |
