No.
1 Mountaineers rough up Albertson, 82-58
Eastern Oregon to face 4th seed Oregon Tech on Friday
February 24, 2004
Box
Score
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon won
their 17th straight game tonight in the first-round of the Cascade
Collegiate Conference playoffs, with a dominating, 82-58 performance
over the 8th-seeded Albertson College Coyotes at Quinn Coliseum.
The Mountaineers started sluggish, as
EOU fans have grown accustomed to over the season, then used an 18-5
run near the end of the first-half to break open a close game that
Albertson lead 12-11 with 13:22 left in the half.
Eastern Oregon held the 'Yotes to just
22.6% shooting in the first-half, while scorching the nets at 53.8%
and led at the intermission break 38-23.
The second-half was more Mountaineers,
as they pushed the lead to 30 points with 7:34 left in the
contest. Both teams then emptied their benched to get their
respective reserves a taste of post-season action.
Eastern Oregon ended the night shooting
a torrid 54.2%, while Albertson struggled at 30.4%
Head coach Anji Weissenfluh's crew
was particularly good inside tonight, as they outscored the bigger
Albertson team in the paint, 40-22.
The Mountaineers converted 18 Coyote
turnovers into 23 points versus 11 points for Albertson off EOU's 21
miscues.
Candice Davis (5-9, So.,
Forward, Echo, Ore.) scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting,
to help contribute to those points in the paint.
The starting backcourt tandem of Tricia
Haddock (5-4, So., Guard,
Parma, Idaho) and Jamie Jo Cant (5-7, Jr., Guard, Imbler, Ore.)
were the only other Mountaineers scoring in double-figures with 13
points and 18 points, respectively. Haddock also led all other
player with 6 assists.
Every Mountaineer player
played at least four minutes tonight and scored two points, except for
starter Cory Nelson (5-10, Sr., Forward, Homedale, Idaho), who
did not score in three attempts from the floor, but did lead the team
with 7 rebounds. And speaking of rebounds, every Eastern Oregon
player had at least one rebound.
EOU got another strong performance from
the Christie(y)'s a-pair. Christie Weaver (5-10, Fr., Forward,
La Grande, Ore.) ended the night with 9 points and 6 rebounds off the
bench, while starter Christy Smith (5-8, Sr., Guard, Idaho
Falls, Idaho) added 8 points and 7 rebounds.
The Mountaineer also out rebounded
Albertson, 48-33.
The top-seeded Mountaineers will now
face 4th-seed Oregon Tech in the semifinals of the Cascade Conference
tournament Friday at Quinn Coliseum. Start time is 7 p.m.
and can be heard locally on KEOL 91.7 FM, or on the internet at www.eou.edu/webcast.
On the other side of the playoff
bracket, #2 Northwest handed #7 Southern Oregon a resounding 122-88
defeat, while #3 Warner Pacific snuck away with a 73-65 win over #6
Evergreen. Warner Pacific will travel to Kirkland, Wash. to face
Northwest on Friday. That game will also start at 7 p.m.
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