The Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team plays for its seventh Cascade Collegiate Conference title in the past 10 years tonight in Caldwell, Idaho.
The fourth-seeded Mountaineers (20-10) last won the conference tournament championships in 2005-06. EOU is 1-1 against the Lady Yotes in the Cascade Conference tournament. The last time they met in the postseason was in 2003-04 in the quarterfinals in La Grande. Eastern won that game, 82-58. But, two years before that the school known then as Albertson College, handed EOU one of its five losses on the season in the semifinals, 92-71.
These two programs have been very successful in recent years and will be the only two schools representing the conference in next week's NAIA Div. 2 National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. Eastern has already clinched the league's second automatic berth to the national field of 32 teams. College of Idaho took the first automatic CCC bid after winning the regular season title.
The No. 20 Lady Yotes (20-7) have won four straight over EOU. The last Mountaineer victory over their rivals was on Feb. 19, 2008, at the C of I, 82-73. Eastern had won 11 of 12 against The College of Idaho, before the Yotes have swept the past two seasons. C of I holds an 18-15 all-time advantage over EOU.
The top-seeded College of Idaho entered the 2009-10 season with high expectations. The 'Yotes were picked to finish first atop the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings in the preseason coaches poll, and were ranked No. 12 in the NAIA Top 25 preseason poll.
But, it was not an easy beginning for the Lady 'Yotes. C of I dropped three of its first six games and fell out of the national top 25. The College of Idaho rebounded by winning five straight games by an average margin of 25.8 points, including a 25-point win over then-ranked No. 9 Southern Oregon.
Eastern and C of I met on Jan. 8 in La Grande in a clash of the top two teams in the league. The Lady Yotes left with its second win at Quinn Coliseum in as many seasons, 47-43. The lead changed 10 times and the game was tied five times. College of Idaho held off EOU despite not making a field goal in the final 2:08. C of I outscored the Mountaineers 28-8 in the paint. EOU shot 29 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the perimeter. Since that game the Lady Yotes are 5-1 and EOU is 5-2.
College of Idaho had little trouble from Eastern Oregon on Feb. 5 in Caldwell, 73-59. The lead changed four times between the rivals and was tied once. Eastern had its last lead with 9:01 remaining in the first half, but never led by more than one point. C of I led by 16 points with 8:21 left in regulation.
The Lady Yotes forced 20 Mountaineer turnovers, while committing 12 themselves. EOU shot 39 percent from the field, and 27 percent from behind the perimeter. College of Idaho was 49 percent from the field and made 4 of its 16 three-point attempts. C of I outscored Eastern 31-8 off of bench points.
Tonight's championship game tips off at 7:30 p.m. Mountain Time, 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time, and can be followed many ways by fans with the links below. There is also a rooter bus available for the game that departs La Grande at 3 p.m. sponsored by the EOU Booster Club. If fans can not make the trip to Caldwell, the game can be viewed at Benchwarmers Pub and Grill in La Grande.
