The USU-Eastern Lady Eagles responded to their Scenic West Athletic Conference opening loss to Salt Lake with a comfortable 65-57 win over the Colorado Northwestern Community College Spartans Saturday afternoon at the B-DAC in Price.

Freshman Madison Loftus delivered a stellar offensive performance scoring a game-high 24 points, while handing out three assists as the Lady Eagles improved to 10-6 on the season. Bryndie Ballam and Sara Morley helped contribute to the otherwise balanced offensive effort with seven points a piece.

Looking to rebound from a 31-point setback at home on Thursday, the Lady Eagles led the majority of the game with a quick start in the opening quarter. Holding a 30-28 lead at the end of the first half, USU-Eastern won the next two individual quarters, and extended the lead into the teens late in the third quarter.

Kelsey Harvey scored a team-best 16 points to lead the Lady Spartans as they dipped to 0-2 in conference play. Alyssa Nielson finished with 10 points, and Sierra Reynolds ended with eight.

The Lady Eagles finished 40-percent from the field while holding the Lady Spartans to just 30-percent. USU-Eastern also finished plus-nine in the rebounding category, largely due to the performance from Morley and Maile Richardson.

Saturday’s win improves USU-Eastern to 1-1 in conference play, placing them just one game behind Salt Lake and the College of Southern Idaho for first place in the conference. Thursday the Lady Eagles will travel on the road to meet CSI in the first of four contests this season.