COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. – Four players netted double figures, and the (RV) Eastern Oregon University women's basketball team shot 65 percent en route to overwhelming Walla Walla, 100-26, on Thursday night to cap the 2015-16 regular season.
EOU will head into the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament with an overall record of 20-9, including a16-4 mark in league play. The Mountaineers will be the No. 2 or No. 3 seed.
KEY PERFORMANCES
Senior guard Jordan Klebaum posted a game-high 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting, while sophomore forward Mariah Swanson added a career-high 16 points, eight assists, and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, both junior guard Darian Gasseling and sophomore guard Payton Parrish added 15 points apiece.
Walla Walla (0-26, 0-19 CCC) was led by Lauren Pernu's 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
THE STORYLINE
EOU made its first eight shots, including five three's, in the opening five minutes of the first quarter to build a 13-point (23-10) lead.
Senior guard Maloree Moss drilled yet another triple to extend the Mountaineers' advantage to 16 (26-10), and EOU took a 29-10 lead into the second quarter.
EOU's margin cracked 30 points after Gasseling swooshed a triple to make it a 42-10 game at the 7:36 mark of the second stanza, and the Mountaineers closed the period with seven layups to carry a 56-16 advantage into the locker room.
Swanson netted six of EOU's first 10 points of the third frame to put the Mountaineers up by 51 (67-16), and Klebaum tallied eight of the team's final 13 points of the quarter to extend the difference to 58 (80-22) going into the fourth quarter.
EOU held the Wolves without a field goal in the final stanza, and five different Mountaineers scored in the frame to seal the 100-26 win.
STATS OF THE GAME
5 – EOU registered its fifth-straight 20-win season.
16 – Swanson scored a career-high 16 points in her first-career start.
17 – The Mountaineers drained 17 three-pointers, their second-highest tally of the 2015-16 campaign.
65 – EOU shot a season-high 65 percent (39-for-60) in the victory.
0 – EOU held Walla Walla without a bucket in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
EOU will host the quarterfinals of the CCC Tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The opponent is to be determined.
