CALDWELL, Idaho – Eastern jumped out to a big lead and fought off a Yote comeback to pick up their 11th straight win Tuesday night. EOU took a 65-60 victory over the College of Idaho to move to 22-2 on the year and 17-1 in conference.
The first quarter was the difference maker as EOU outscored the Yotes 23-8. EOU started off firing from deep with precision as their first 12 points came from beyond the arc while they outscored the Yotes 12-2. From there the Mounties cruised to a 38-29 halftime lead thanks to
Sailor Liefke and
Brie Holecek who each put up 10 in the first half.
College of Idaho fought their way back into it in the third quarter. With 2:28 left to go, a Lexi Mitchell layup gave the Yotes their first lead of the game. The lead changed hands three times down the stretch as Eastern retook the lead with a Holecek free throw to go up one at the end of the third quarter. The two teams continued to battle into the fourth quarter until the Mounties took control and relied on consistency at the line going five for six on free throws in the final two minutes to take the 65-60 victory.
Eastern now shifts their sights to their last regular season at home this weekend. The Mounties will take on Bushnell on Friday followed by Corban on Saturday. Tipoff against the Beacons is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday evening.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With 11 points on the evening, Beverly Slater now is just five points away from 1,000 career points as a Mountie
- Rebounding played a key role in the Mountie victory as it has all season with 19 offensive rebounds setting up 18 second-chance points
- It was a tale of two halves shooting for EOU who shot 46% from the field and 42% from three in the first half before plummeting to 29% and 8% in the second half
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
- Sailor Liefke: 19 PTS, 6-16 FG, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK
- Brie Holecek: 19 PTS, 6-10 fG, 2-4 3PT, 5 REB, 4 STL
- Beverly Slater: 11 PTS, 4-8 FG, 11 REB, 2 AST
