Eagles can’t overcome slow start against SLCC

    The Utah State Eastern women’s basketball team lost to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins 74-57 Saturday in Taylorsville.
    Salt Lake’s win on Saturday gives them the season sweep of the Eagles and gives USU Eastern’s third straight loss.
    USU Eastern couldn’t get going offensively in the first quarter and struggled to score points against a tough Salt Lake defense.
    “It was another slow start which put us in a difficult situation to win,” said USU Eastern Head Coach Chelsey Warburton.
    The Bruins opened the game 16-0 run and didn’t allow a USU Eastern score until midway through the first quarter.
    Led by freshman forward Alyssa Crumley, the Eagles would chip at the lead throughout the second and third quarters to try get back in the game. They outscored the Bruins 33-27 in the middle quarters of the game.
    With being down double-digits the players the coach’s encouragement and direction from the bench helped keep the players going.
    “The coaches stayed positive and encouraged us to come back. Their encouragement helped us a lot,” said Crumley.
    USU Eastern cut the SLCC lead down to 13 with two minutes left in the game. They once trailed by 20 points in the fourth quarter.
    Part of that effort in the second half was the post presence of Crumley and sophomore forward Kaitlin Toluono.
    “Kaitlin and I just had to work hard the whole game and try to keep our girls out of the paint. Kaitlin always does a great job and we need her defense to win,” said Crumley.
    Toluono finished the game with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals while Crumley was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points.
    The Eagles will now have one week left of the regular season and two games to stop their losing streak.
    “Our team has to keep moving forward, we learn from it, work had and get better for the next game,” said Warburton.
    USU Eastern’s next game is sophomore night on Thursday night against Colorado Northwest.
    Tip off for sophomore night is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the team will honor their six sophomore players before the game begins.