The Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team welcomes three schools to La Grande for the sixth annual Aramark Holiday Classic.
The yearly event that began in 2004 is a showcase some of the area's finest women's basketball programs at the small college level. This year The College of Idaho, Montana Western, and Walla Walla University come to Quinn Coliseum.
The College of Idaho is making its fifth appearance at the classic. The Yotes entered the 2010-11 season with high expectations. C of I began the season as the preseason favorite for the Cascade Collegiate Conference title and a No. 19 national ranking in NAIA Div. 2.
The Lady Yotes are led by Cascade Collegiate Conference Preseason Player of the Year, Nicole Gall. The senior has lived up to the hype so far this year. She enters the weekend leading the team in points per game (19.0), rebounds per game (6.25), assists per game (4.75), and blocks per game (2.75). The 5-10 guard averaged 17.9 points per game last season and was named to the All-Conference team.
Head Coach Reagan Rossi was named CCC Coach of the Year after leading the C of I to the NAIA National Tournament and a conference title. It's been a tough start for the Yotes in 2010-11. The College of Idaho comes to the classic with a 2-2 record and a difficult schedule to open the season. All four of the Yotes' first games have been against NAIA Div. 1 Frontier Conference opponents.
C of I opened with an 88-70 win at the University of Great Falls in Montana. The Yotes then traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah for a tournament at Westminster College. An opening 79-69 loss to Carroll College and then a 78-56 loss to the host, Westminster, put The College of Idaho at 1-2. The Yotes would close the tournament with a 72-62 win over Montana Western.
Montana Western and The College of Idaho will meet again Saturday in La Grande. The Nov. 13 decision for the Yotes marked only the third time C of I has knocked off Western in the 15 meetings all-time between the programs.
The Bulldogs come to La Grande with a 2-3 record, but have exhibited very unselfish play averaging 22 assists per game. Laura Geis leads UMW with an average of 12 points per game, shooting 66 percent from the field. Chloe Mosey leads Western on the boards averaging 7.4 rebounds a game. Nicole Tams enters the classic averaging 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
Western opened the season with a 72-61 loss at home to Minot State. The Bulldogs rebounded with back-to-back wins over Dickinson State and Pacific Union. Both wins were by wide margins. UMW slides into La Grande on a two-game losing streak after losses to California Baptist and The College of Idaho in Salt Lake City.
Montana Western boasts the best record of any school in the history of the Aramark Holiday Classic. The Bulldogs are making their fourth appearance at the classic and have gone 5-1 in their games during the tournament. UMW had a five-game winning streak in the classic until Eastern Oregon beat them in 2008, 65-60.
Walla Walla University returns to the classic for only the second time after being one of the four teams in the inaugural classic in 2004. The Wolves were actually Walla Walla College at the time of the 2004 tournament; it has since expanded to a University.
WWU enters the weekend 1-5 overall after a 62-23 loss at Warner Pacific College. The Wolves opened the season with an 89-44 loss at home to Montana Tech. Three straight losses on the road would follow to Eastern Oregon, Lewis-Clark State, and Northwest University. Walla Walla then won a 58-53 decision over the Northwest Indian College on the road.
Nicke Parks, a native of Joseph, Ore. native, leads the Wolves averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. Parks transferred to WWU after playing last season at NCAA Div. 1 Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Sierra King averages a team-high 2.5 assists per game.
The opening game is Walla Walla versus The College of Idaho, Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern Oregon and Montana Western play in the second game at 6 p.m. Friday. Saturday, the four teams will gather together for a luncheon followed by the final two games of the classic at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. All four games will have a live video stream and live stats on EOUSports.com.
