Box Score
CALDWELL, Idaho – The No. 20 College of Idaho women's basketball team pulled away from No. 25 Eastern Oregon University in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinals Friday, 68-49.
The third-seeded Mountaineers (23-8) now await a possible at-large berth in the NAIA Div. 2 National Tournament. In the latest projections before next week's final poll, EOU is currently listed in the final four teams in the tournament. The release of the 32-team tournament field will be released Wednesday.
The Lady Yotes' used a well-timed 16-2 run in the second half to separate from their rivals. C of I won for the sixth straight over EOU in the J.A. Albertson Center. The College of Idaho grabbed the conference's second automatic berth to the national tournament after top-seeded Corban outlasted Warner Pacific in the other CCC semifinal.
Felicity Jones led four C of I double-digit scorers with 14 points. Tina Fakahafua finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds. The College of Idaho shot 44 percent from the field, making 4-of-12 from behind the arc and 20-for-26 from the free-throw line. In the regular season meetings between the schools, the winner shot 32 percent from the field.
A 16-5 run by the hosts over a 12-minute stretch of the first half, capped by a Dayna Drager three-pointer, gave the Yotes a 22-11 lead with 4:18 left in the period. EOU closed the half on an 8-0 run to trail 22-19 at the break.
Eastern (23-7) trailed just 35-32 with 13:35 to play, but a Diamond Mitchell three-point play and a Kylie Hardison three-pointer began a Yotes' run. Dayna Drager connected on four-straight free throws and Hardison canned another three-pointer, extending the lead to 51-34 with 9:07 left - with EOU never cutting the margin below 14 the rest of the way.
The Lady Yotes won their 35th-straight game when holding an opponent under 50 points, while improving to 12-0 all-time in home playoff games under head coach, Reagan Rossi.
Brooke Randall led Eastern Oregon with 14 points, after making all nine of her free-throw attempts. The Mountaineers were held to season-lows of 26 percent shooting from the field and .071 shooting from three-point range. EOU made just one of its 14 shots from behind the perimeter. Eastern was 24-of-28 from the free-throw line.
