LA GRANDE, Ore. – A career-high 24 points from Maddyson Tull wasn't enough for Oregon Tech, as Eastern Oregon advanced to the title game of the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, with an 83-68 victory over the Lady Owls at Quinn Coliseum.
 
Beverly Slater scored 20 points and added 14 rebounds, as the No. 12-ranked Mountaineers (28-2) will meet No. 10-ranked Lewis-Clark State in Tuesday's title game. OIT will wait until Thursday to see if they will receive one of 26 at-large bids to the NAIA National Championships.
 
"We played hard for 40 minutes," said OIT head coach Paul Poetsch. "Eastern Oregon is a very good basketball team – but we battled until the final buzzer. I think 21 wins is good enough to get into the national tournament – but we'll find out Thursday."
 
The Lady Owls (21-9) used a 10-3 run midway through the second quarter to draw even at 30-30 – including triples from Gabbie Gascon and Olivia Sprague, along with an inside bucket from Tull. EOU answered behind Bri Holecek, scoring seven of her 15 points in a 10-2 run to close the half, taking a 40-32 lead to the break.
 
A Gascon lay-up got OIT within 49-42 midway through the third quarter, but the Mounties put the game away with a 24-7 run – including 12-straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters – pushing the margin to 73-49.
 
EOU converted 50-percent of their field goals – including eight 3-pointers – and held a 39-36 edge on the glass.
 
Tull finished 10-of-22 from the field, adding 11 rebounds – becoming just the sixth player in program history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career.
 
Sprague had 12 points, Melissa Lee scored 11, with Gascon adding 10 in the loss.