CALDWELL, Idaho – A stingy defensive effort by the Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team forced 21 turnovers and held College of Idaho to a 34 percent shooting effort, and the Mountaineers claimed a 55-41 victory over the Yotes on Tuesday night. The Navy and Gold has now won seven-straight Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) openers.

Key Performances
For the second-straight game, senior guard Jordan Klebaum led the squad in scoring with 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting.

Flirting with triple-double honors, senior forward Nikki Osborne tallied 10 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

The Storyline
Both senior guard Maloree Moss and junior guard Donniesha Webber netted threes in the early going to help EOU race to an 11-2 lead with 7:17 left in the first quarter.

The Yotes (1-6, 0-1 CCC) cut the Mountaineers' advantage to three twice, but the Navy and Gold drilled three-straight jumpers from downtown to snatch a 23-13 lead in the second stanza.

In the final minutes of the second frame, Klebaum swooshed back-to-back three's to grant EOU its largest lead (34-18) of the first half, and the Mountaineers went on to take a 34-23 advantage into the locker room.

The third quarter saw C of I's best performance, as the Yotes assembled a 13-6 run to pull within four (40-36) after a layup by Petra Lumpert.

EOU netted four-straight free throws to end the quarter, and then Osborne opened the fourth frame with an and-one to put the Mountaineers on top, 47-37, with 8:54 remaining in regulation.

Although the Yotes cut the Navy and Gold's lead to eight, Klebaum tossed in back-to-back buckets to put EOU up by double digits for the remainder of the contest.

Stats of the Game
21 – Klebaum netted 20+ points for the second-straight contest.
7 – Under 16-year head coach Anji Weissenfluh, the Mountaineers have won seven-straight conference openers.

Up Next
EOU (5-4, 1-0 CCC) returns to the hardwood on Saturday against Walla Walla in La Grande at 5:30 p.m.