Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – Eastern Oregon rallied for a 71-61 overtime victory at Whitworth in the Pirates' season opener for women's basketball on Sunday afternoon in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates led virtually the entire way through regulation, but could not close out the Mountaineers (1-2) before the final buzzer. EOU then took control in the overtime period, outscoring Whitworth 16-6.
The Pirates grabbed double digit leads in each of the first two quarters. Tayler Flemming's layup near the end of the first period gave the Bucs a 21-10 advantage before Jordan Klebaum hit a three-pointer for EOU at the buzzer. Then Faith Lopez-Flores drained a three for Whitworth that gave the Pirates their largest lead of the game (27-15) early in the second quarter.
But Peyton Parrish answered with a three for the Mountaineers, sparking EOU to a 15-4 run over the rest of the second period. A basket by Maloree Moss pulled Eastern to within 31-30 at the break.
Whitworth appeared to retake control late in the third quarter when a three-pointer by Grace Douglas extended the Pirate advantage to 46-37. Whitworth still led 53-45 with 5:11 left in the fourth quarter after a three from Alexis McLeod, but the Mountaineers would outscore the Bucs 10-2 over the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Moss it a pair of free throws on EOU's first possession in OT and Parrish followed with a three-pointer on the next possession. That sparked the Mountaineers to pull away down the stretch.
KC McConnell led Whitworth with 13 points, but scored only two points after halftime as EOU clamped down on her defensively. She responded by leading the team with six assists. McLeod added 11 points and Faith Emerson scored ten. Briann Maley came off of the bench to lead the Bucs with eight rebounds.
Parrish led Eastern with 21 points off of the bench, while Nikki Osborne finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Whitworth will try to crack the win column next Friday when the Pirates host the College of Idaho at 5:00 pm.
