| Without a teammate in sight, Meridee Spendlove jumps above three Snow College Badgers to put up a shot at a Feb. 18 home game. |
College of Eastern Utah’s Lady Eagles finished regular season play with two losses at Salt Lake Community College on March 4 and 5. Friday’s game ended with CEU losing 57-79. On Saturday, the game was closer, with the Lady Eagles losing 69-74.
With the Lady Bruins attempting 28 from the line Friday, compared with CEU’s 14, fouls became a factor early in the game. In the first half, SLCC scored nine points from the line, while CEU scored two.
A better shooting average in the first half gave the Lady Bruins an edge on their opponents, as the half ended with CEU down 18-37. In the first half, SLCC shot 13 of 26 from the field, almost doubling CEU’s seven for 25.
In the second half, CEU brought their shooting average up, making 15 of 28 from the field. That would be enough to counter Salt Lake’s 13 for 24.
Unfortunately for Eastern Utah, foul trouble continued as the Lady Bruins shot 13 points from the line, compared to six by CEU.
Veva Whitear led her team with 20 points, three assists and three steals. Teammate Whitney Fardig made nine points, one rebound and a steal.
Salt Lake’s Jill Thomas made 23 points and six assists. Carolyn Manning had 22 points and eight rebounds. And Brynne Louder made 14 points, making seven of eight field goals.
On Saturday, the Lady Eagles limited their fouls to 23, compared to SLCC’s 14, and kept their opponents from taking a win from within reach. As they took advantage of each shot at the line, CEU made 10 of 12 attempts. Salt Lake still had more attempts, but made just 13 of 24 from the line for the night.
With 40 seconds on the clock, the Lady Eagles were down by one, but by the end of the game, Salt Lake had pulled ahead to finish with a five-point victory.
“Our girls never quit,” said Dave Paur, head coach for the Lady Eagles. “They finished the season with a good effort.”
Whitear again led with 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. Janeen Glover scored 25 points and made one rebound and one assist, while Jana Glover made 12 points, two rebounds and two steals. Fardig had four points, seven rebounds and a block.
SLCC’s leaders included Thomas, with 20 points, four steals and two blocks; Tamarra Evans with 13 points and an assist; Manning with 13 points and nine rebounds; and Louder with 11 points.
With a season record of 4-13, the sixth-ranked Lady Eagles play third-ranked North Idaho College tonight in Twin Falls. The winner advances to play either Colorado Northwestern Community College or Salt Lake Community College tomorrow, with the final game of the championship tournament Saturday.