| Janeen Nelson drives past Snow College guard Meridee Spendlove. Nelson helped power CEU to a win with 10 points, four assists and five steals. |
In their last weekend home this season, College of Eastern Utah’s women’s basketball went 1-1 against Snow College, winning 56-47 Friday and losing 57-74 Saturday.
With back-and-forth possession Friday, the Lady Eagles took an easy lead in the first half. Scoring 33 percent from the field and 71 percent from the line, CEU’s women stayed ahead of Snow, who were making just 25 percent of field goals and 50 percent of foul shots. The half ended with CEU ahead 27-19.
Returning from the half, CEU continued their lead, making 37 percent of field goals, and 43 percent from the line. Unable to rise from their slump in the first half, Snow made 27 percent from the field and 57 percent at the line.
Veva Whitear made 13 points, five assists and three steals. Janeen Nelson made 10 points, four assists and five steals. Whitney Fardig made 10 points, two blocks and two steals.
Unable to sink the ball, no one on Snow’s team broke double digits in scoring, and the seven steals, three blocks and six assists seemed paltry against CEU’s 14 steals, four blocks and 13 assists.
On Saturday, the game started with what looked to be an easy win for CEU. Breaking ahead early, the Lady Eagles made 17 points before Snow had five on the board.
That all changed as CEU was unable to rebound. With call after call sending Snow College to the foul line, the half ended with Snow trailing by two.
“We were ahead 17-4. In the first half, they had 13 points from the foul line. They hammered us on the boards. That’s where the game was decided,” said Dave Paur, head coach for the Lady Eagles.
By the end of the game, CEU was able to rebound just 21 balls, while Snow held onto 46. Discounting fouls, both teams were even from the field, making 21 field goals, CEU making just one more three-point shot than Snow.
Shooting from the line decided the game. Snow shot 29 points from the line, while CEU made 11.
“Normally, you don’t hear me say this, but it was the worst officiated game I’ve had here in years,” Paur explained
“At half time, our point guard went up to an official and said, ‘Hey, we got the message. We’re not going to foul.’ The official said, ‘You guys have a history of fouling.’ She predetermined what we were like – the dumbest thing she ever said.”
Paur said after the game that he had called the arbitrator, and made a complaint against the official. “She had already decided before the action – before the game – that we foul too much. That’s the first time she’s done one of our games. Consequently, they were 29 for 34 [from the line] and we were 11 for 19. We had the same amount of field goals as they did, and we got hammered by those foul shots. When an official says you have a history of fouling, she should not officiate, ever, at any game. She’ll never do another game for us, ever.”
Unwilling to blame a loss entirely on poor officiating, Paur added, “We still got beat on the boards. But I’m not happy with those officials.”
Snow’s Corissa Kesterson made 23 points, five of those from the line. Kristina Peterson made 20 points, four from the line. Rana McMurtrey made 19 points, 10 from the line.
CEU’s Fardig fouled out with just five points, two assists, a block and a steal. Whitear came close to foul trouble with four fouls, but made 15 points, three assists and a steal. Brook Wilson, also with four fouls, made three points and had one assists.
Bench players Marcy Loveless and Meghan Hunsaker added to CEU’s efforts, with Loveless making eight points and a steal, and Hunsaker adding two points, three assists, one block and two steals.