Western women cruise to second win

By the Standard News Services - 10/29/2005

DILLON — A first-half surge sent the University of Montana-Western to a 78-56 non-conference victory over Eastern Oregon Friday night in a college women’s basketball game played in Straugh Gym.

With the game tied at 20-all with 8:17 left in the first half, Western went on a 22-5 run to build a 40-25 command and was never threatened the rest of the game.

The game was foul-plagued as two Lady Bulldogs and one Eastern Oregon player fouled out. Fifty-two fouls were called.

“A lot of fouls were called,” Western head coach Kevin Engellant said. “So neither team got into much of a flow, offensively. We were able to hit some 3-pointers in the first half and extend the lead a little bit.” Crystal Kain and Laura Shea led Western with 17 points each, followed by Megan Schmitz with 12.

“Laura Shea had a really good game for us with 17 points,” Engellant said. “She sparked us early.” Christie Weaver led Eastern Oregon with 11 points, followed by Heidi Horobiowski with nine.

“Defensively, throughout the game, other than fouling too much, we did some nice things,” Engellant said. “We did a good job, too, of taking care of the basketball. They turned it over 24 times versus our 11.” The Bulldogs will be home against Brandon (Manitoba) Saturday at 7 p.m. in another non-conference game.

EASTERN OREGON (0-1) Christie Weaver 4-8 0-0 11, Whitney Leman 1-5 0-0 2, Liz Brice 1-3 1-4 3, Adria Layne 2-4 2-5 6, Candice Davis 2-4 2-4 6, Jami Huntsman 2-3 0-0 4, Andra Peterson 1-3 2-4 4, Heidi Horobiowski 3-7 3-4 9, Laura Olsen 0-2 1-2 1, Sheena Henderson 2-3 4-6 8, Amanda Matson 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Kennington 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Elise Hawes 0-0 0-0 0, Jamae Feddock 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 19-47 15-32 56.

MONTANA-WESTERN (2-0) Becky O’Neil 1-3 3-4 5, Crystal Kain 4-13 7-7 17, Megan Schmitz 4-9 2-3 12, Colette Behrent 3-6 1-4 7, Billi Suhr 2-5 4-8 9, Laura Shea 7-9 3-4 17, Jennell Day 1-3 0-1 3, Genna Rucker 2-5 0-0 6, Michela Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Emily Schock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 18-30 78.

Halftime — Western 49, Eastern Oregon 32. 3-point goals — Eastern Oregon 3-7 (Weaver 3-4, Leman 0-1, Brice 0-1, Matson 0-1), Western 10-18 (Kain 2-7, Schmitz 2-3, Behrent 0-1, Suhr 1-1, Shea 3-4, Rucker 2-2). Fouled out — Layne, Shea, Day. Total fouls — Eastern Oregon 28, Western 24. Rebounds — Eastern Oregon 37 (Leman 6), Western 32 (Kain 5, Schmitz 5). Blocks — Eastern Oregon 1 (Layne), Western 1 (O’Neil). Assists — Eastern Oregon 7 (Leman 5), Western 10 (Kain 4). Steals — Eastern Oregon 4 (four players with one), Western 5 (Kain 2). Turnovers — Eastern Oregon 24, Western 11.

Bulldog men ‘step up’ for overtime victory DILLON — It may have taken an extra few minutes, but the University of Montana-Western edged out Eastern Oregon 94-90 in overtime Friday night in nonconference men’s basketball in Straugh Gym.

Western was led by five players in double figures for scoring, including Charlie Cox (19), Jeff Feenstra (16), Tyler Palmer (18), Jeff Graham (14) and Kellen Ori (15).

Cox also had 12 assists and hit a running shot with four seconds in regulation to send the game into overtime.

“A lot of guys stepped up,” said Western head coach Mark Durham. “We lost Wes Morales on the opening tip to a sprained ankle. We were down by as many as 13 in the second half and rallied back. Charlie (Cox) played very well for a freshman. Tyler Palmer and Jeff Graham — a lot of different players.” Eastern had four scorers in double figures, the highest Maurice Thomas with 24 points. Chad Fairbanks was next with 19 and Fairbanks also had nine rebounds to lead Eastern.

Western will travel to the Westminister tournament next week and play 12th-ranked Concordia (Irvine, Calif.) in the opening round. Eastern travels north to Butte Saturday to play the Orediggers of Montana Tech.

EASTERN OREGON (0-1) Maurice Thomas 7-12 8-11 24; Mark Carollo 4-9 0-0 10; Tanner McIntosh 4-7 2-2 12; Chad Fairbanks 8-12 1-2 19; Derek Brown 3-4 0-0 6; Eric Orton 1-10 3-4 6; Jeremy Rosebalm 0-0 1-2 1; Kyle Janke 4-8 1-2 9, Seth Penningon 0-1 0-0 0; Jeremy Templeton 1-2 0-0 3; Neil Fryer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 16-23 90.

UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA-WESTERN (2-0) Jeff Feenstra 7-10 0-1 16; Charlie Cox 6-14 4-6 19; Tyler Palmer 5-10 8-8 18; Jeff Graham 5-5 2-2 14; Wes Morales 0-1 0-0 0; Terry Hauser 0-2 0-0 0; Marshall Lagge 2-2 0-0 4; Kellan Ori 7-9 0-0 15; Greg Hall 4-5 0-1 8.Totals 36-58 14-18 94.

Halftime — Eastern 43, Western 39. End of regulation — Eastern Oregon 79, Western 79. 3-point baskets — Eastern 10-21 (Thomas 2-4, Carollo 2-4, McIntosh 2-3, Fairbanks 2-2, Orton 1-5, Rosebalm 0-1, Janke 0-2, Templeton 1-1), Western 8-19 (Feenstra 2-4, Cox 3-4, Palmer 0-3, Graham 2-2, Morales 0-1, Hauser 0-2, Ori 1-3). Fouled out — Templeton, Hall, Feenstra. Total fouls — Eastern 22, Western 22. Rebounds — Eastern 32 (Fairbanks 9), Western 30 (Hall 6). Steals — Eastern 8 (Thomas 2, Brown 2), Western 6 (Cox 2, Palmer 2). Assists — Eastern 7 (Templeton 2), Western 20 (Cox 12). Blocks — Eastern 1 (Fairbanks), Western 1 (Cox). Turnovers — Eastern Oregon 20, Western 17.