Lady Badgers lose by one point to

Utah State Eastern

By Jacob Clawson

Staff writer

2-6-2020

Despite sporting a one-point lead with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Snow College women’s basketball came up short to Utah State Eastern, 53-54.

The Lady Badgers made the trip to Price, Utah to compete against the Golden Eagles for the second time this season. Having suffered their first loss of the conference to Utah State Eastern 33-59, the Lady Badgers had a game plan from tip-off.

Snow came off the ball aggressive and assertive, showing what they had learned in the tough season. Gaining an early lead, Snow continued to push the Golden Eagles, holding them to crippling shooting average of just 24 percent, until they secured a 14-point lead at halftime, 31-17.

The third quarter wasn’t too different as Snow then increased their lead to 19 points as Utah State Eastern struggled to keep up. It soon became evident that Snow would claim its first victory over the Golden Eagles, but Utah State Eastern wasn’t ready to accept this outcome and made a full 180 degree turn after a few key plays that set them on the right track.

Having little time to make up the long lead Snow had built for themselves, the Golden Eagles nearly doubled their shooting percentage to 41 percent. This started to turn the game around as the Lady Badgers were outscored heavily in the fourth quarter with the seconds winding down.

Soon the Golden Eagles found themselves toe to toe with the Lady Badger, having made up the 19 point deficit to put them within one basket to claim the lead. With only 10.7 seconds left in the game, the Golden Eagles gained possession when Reagan Yamauchi fouled Morgan Toluono.

Toluono was able to sink both free throws and gave the Golden Eagles a 53-54 lead.

With mere seconds to go, Snow took the inbound pass looking for a last second basket to claim their victory. Yamauchi passed the ball to Reagan Anderson, who, despite best efforts, wasn’t able to find the open shot in time. Time expired leaving the Lady Badgers with ball in hand, down by one, on a game that could have turned the season around for this team.

When asked the week prior about the remaining matchups Snow would face, Coach Mike Russell mentioned, “We just have to play with the energy and pride we played with tonight [against CSI] in every game. We feel like if we do that… I mean at this point in time I don’t know if we can win our conference, but we can win the region. We just want to keep getting better”

Despite the loss, Snow sported three starters shooting double digits and strong defensive stats. Both Micah Gustafson and Reagan Anderson had 13 points of their own, with Sydney Pilling adding 10 points to the mix. Shawnee Simpson stood out as well, leading the defense in rebounds and the winner of 8 boards.

Currently at a standing of 11-14 in their season, with a 2-5 record in conference play, Snow continues to lose on the road. Having lost 7-of-8 games on the road, the Lady Badgers have a long way to go if they want to find themselves in any sort of playoff standing this year.

The Lady Badgers will next take on Colorado Northwestern at home Feb. 6, as part of a “Pack the HAC” event. Fans are encouraged to dress in dark blue, with the first 500 dressed up attendees receiving a free hot dog. Snow will then finish off the weekend in Twin Falls, Idaho to compete against College of Southern Idaho, who fell to Lady Badgers in overtime just two weeks ago.