La Grande, OR. – Oregon Tech (2-3) fell short to Eastern Oregon (11-2) 80-66 in the first of two weekend matchups for the Lady Owls. Tech out rebounded the Mountaineers by 12, but EOU's play from beyond the 3-point line proved to be the difference.
Head coach
Scott Meredith remarked: "While I appreciated the effort our team gave today, we didn't defend the 3 well and that was a point of emphasis for our defense. The experience factor played a big role today as it was Eastern's 13th game and only our 5th. However, we pushed tempo, rebounded well and are learning every game. I thought our bench gave us some productive minutes and that's a very good sign. We will regroup and get after it again tomorrow."
Tech started off the 1st quarter well, shooting 40% from the floor and 50% beyond the arc. The solid shooting and strong rebounding was enough to keep the score close as the Owls trailed 17-19 after 1.
In the 2nd quarter, Tech out-shot EOU 43%-33%. However, EOU converted on more 3-point attempts, which once again the Lady Owls were unable to keep on.
The Lady Owls weren't getting themselves into a hole though, they were still barely trailing the hosts. After being outscored 21-18 in the 2nd quarter, the Mountaineers took a 40-35 lead into the break.
The theme that was arising in this affair is that the Owls wouldn't be playing bad, they just weren't competing as well on the 3-point end as Coach Meredith mentioned.
Down the stretch, statistically the Owls were right there with EOU, but more successful shots allowed the hosts to pull away.
Eou outscored Tech 20-16 in the 3rd and 20-15 in the 4th to seal their 11th victory of the season.
Maddyson Tull led the way for the Owls, scoring 16 points on 7-10 shooting from the floor.
Courtney Clemmer added 14, while
Melissa Lee had a double-double, 12-points and a career high 11 rebounds while
Emma McKenney added 12.
The Lady' Owls will return to action tomorrow to face off with EOU in Game 2 of the weekend series.
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