Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Eastern Washington
League Leaders Down Wildcats
2/27/2010 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah -- Eastern Washington (18-9 overall; 11-3 Big Sky) clinched its first-ever conference regular season championship on Friday night with a 70-56 win over Weber State (9-18; 3-11) at the Dee Events Center.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 7-0 run, and led 15-8 with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half, but used an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead with 8:38 remaining in the period. Chene Cooper hit a three-pointer to give the Eagles the lead for good with 5:44 left in the half, as she sparked an 8-0 run over the next two minutes and 53 seconds.
The Eagles led 31-25 at the break, and pushed the lead to as many as 17 points in the second half. The Wildcats would get no closer than five points over the final 20 minutes.
"I am very pleased with the effort and intensity that we played with tonight," said WSU head coach Carla Taylor. "We were playing shorthanded, which forced us to play some players out of position and throw in some changes to our offensive sets. But our girls played their hearts out, especially our three seniors. As a coach, anytime you get that, you can't be upset even when the results don't go your way."
The Wildcats were without the services of Caitlin Anderson, their leading scorer and rebounder. The junior forward has been lost for the season with a knee injury suffered against Idaho State on Feb. 18. Anderson's loss piles on to the list of injuries suffered by Weber State forwards this season. The Wildcats lost Karlee Weight and Lauren Deane before the season began. Then Mikell Woodfield suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on Feb. 6 against Montana State.
Nicke Parks and Sarah Conner led the Wildcats with 14 points apiece. Parks recorded a season-high in points for the second-straight game. Conner added eight rebounds to her 14 points. Tonya Schnibbe chipped in with eight points and six assists. Joey O'Neill led all players with nine rebounds, while Megan Patterson added a career-high seven rebounds to her six points.
The Wildcats went 0 for 13 from three-point range, failing to hit a shot from behind the arc for the first time this season. Weber State shot just 32.7 percent from the floor, but found success attacking the basket as they got to the free throw line 27 times, and converted 22 of those attempts.
Eastern Washington was led by Cooper, who scored 23 of the team's 30 bench points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field. Cooper added four steals and three assists. Julie Piper added 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Kyla Evans chipped in with 10 points.
