Lady Eagles drop one at home to SLCC, 51-66

    Utah State Eastern women’s basketball lost 66-51 at home on Saturday to the Salt Lake Community College Bruins.
    It was the second home loss of the season to the Bruins.
    Salt Lake came out in control of the game from the start to put the Eagles behind early.
    “We didn’t come out aggressive and we played catch up to them,” said USU Eastern forward Alyssa Crumley.
    Salt Lake opened the game with a strong 9-2 start in the first quarter and would lead at the end of the period 16-9.
    The Bruins would continue to play very physical on both ends and kept the Eagles away from cutting their lead throughout the second and third quarter.
    “It was a very physical game. There were several possessions we allowed SLCC to take us out of our sets offensively,” said USU Eastern Head Coach Chelsey Warburton.
    By the time the Eagles would find some sort of rhythm, Salt Lake would come back and build another double-digit lead.
    “Salt Lake controlled the temp and we adjusted well, but we did not get our shots to fall,” said Crumley.
    The Eagles shot 32 percent from the field on Saturday and 40 percent from three-point range.
    Warburton said her team showed effort but ultimately couldn’t overcome mistakes to come close to the Bruins.
    “The effort was there for us as a team, but we just made poor decisions on both ends of the floor,” she said.
    Freshman forward Abby Butler gave the Eagles some much needed strength and size inside against Salt Lake coming off the bench. She scored seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
    “Abby had great minutes and energy for us today. We will look to her for minutes in next week’s game as well,” Warburton said.
    Crumley led the Eagles in scoring with 14 points and grabbed four rebounds and two steals.
    Sophomore guard Madison Loftus was the team’s second leading scorer despite some foul trouble. She had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in Saturday’s game.
    Up next for Warburton and the Eagles is a matchup against the College of Southern Idaho on Saturday at 3 p.m.
    The Eagles will look to get back on a winning track with a week of preparation for the game. They previously lost to CSI on the road Jan. 20 by a score of 76-72.
    Saturday’s game will be the only game of the season where they host CSI. They will make a return trip in two weeks to Twin Falls.