CHENEY, Wash. – The College of Idaho led 14-3 after a quarter and hung tough throughout in a 59-46 loss at Division I opponent Eastern Washington on Thursday.
Each team played tight defense over the first five minutes of game action, with 3-pointers by Kennedy Dickie for the Eagles (1-4) and
Sophia Jackson for the Yotes (1-5) locking the game in a 3-3 tie at the media timeout.
Following the timeout, C of I wasted little time building a lead that would hold for the majority of the first half.
A
Lexi Mitchell layup off an EWU turnover with 4:35 on the clock would be followed by three consecutive 3-pointers to end the first quarter - two by
Cierra Dvorak and another from Jackson - giving the Yotes the 14-3 lead after 10 minutes.
Eastern immediately started chipping into the lead to start the second quarter, utilizing a triple from Aaliyah Alexander and second-chance baskets by Alexander and Maisie Burnham to cut the lead down to four at the 7:40 mark.
Throughout the remainder of the half, the score would remain close, with the Eagles holding a 23-18 lead with eight seconds left. A turnover by Milly Knowles would give the Yotes another chance to bring it closer before the break, with
Tayla Sayer pushing the tempo up the floor and dishing off to
Kiersten Rasmussen who kissed it off the class just prior to the horn going off.
The Rasmussen basket cut the EWU lead to 23-20 entering halftime, with C of I having led for 11:18 of the first 20 minutes of action.
In the second half, the Yotes continued to keep it close, taking a 26-25 lead with 6:53 left in the third when
Allie Cannon blew by the defense, finished at the basket and got fouled. The sophomore guard finished the 3-point play opportunity by converting her free throw.
With 3:45 left in the third, Dvorak connected on her third 3-pointer of the game, knotting things up at 29-29.
A pair of runs late for Eastern allowed the Eagles to build up a lead from that point on though, starting with an 11-3 run that made it 40-33.
Kaylee Krusemark then hit a triple to bring the Yotes within four points with 8:53 left in the game at 40-36, however EWU then went on a 17-0 run over the next 6:13 to put some separation between the two teams on the scoreboard for the first time all game.
Krusemark led the scoring for C of I with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-8 from outside. Dvorak added nine points - all from beyond the perimeter - along with three steals. Mitchell had a quality all-around performance, contributing three points, nine rebounds, four steals and four assists. Rasmussen swatted away three shot attempts from the Eagles to continue to climb the career leaderboard for blocked shots in program history for the Yotes.
For the game, Eastern Washington finished 23-of-60 (34 percent) from the field and 8-of-27 (30 percent) on 3-pointers. The Yotes shot 18-of-53 (34 percent) overall and 8-of-24 (33 percent) from outside.
The three points for EWU in the first quarter was the fewest C of I has allowed to an opponent in a quarter since Evergreen was held to two points on Jan. 6, 2018.
The Yotes are next scheduled to return to action on Jan. 6 inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center against Simpson. Game time is slated for noon.
