By Loren Miller, Utah State Eastern Sports

PRICE – Utah State Eastern women’s basketball defeated the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles 70-62 on Saturday at home.

From the moment the ball was tipped to the final buzzer, the Eagles only allowed CSI to hold a lead once and that lead was only by three.

The Eagles grabbed momentum in the second quarter after making five threes in the period.

After leading at halftime by four the Eagles continued to control the game because of their rebounding and defense.

“Our coaches told us this week that rebounding and transition would be key to getting the win,” said USU Eastern freshman Morgan Toluono.

USU Eastern were plus eight on the rebounding in the game as a team including a fourth quarter where they grabbed 15 rebounds.

Toluono led the Eagles in rebounding on Saturday with 12 boards. She also had 16 points and three assists.

“Morgan brings a lot to the table in every game especially her energy and that showed tonight,” said Eagles’ forward Harley Carlisle.

In the fourth quarter the Eagles held a 17-point lead with 6:25 left to play, their largest of the game until CSI called a timeout to make adjusttments.

CSI wouldn’t quit and would make things interesting down the stretch following the timeout.

“They wanted the quick points but we had to control the ball and run the clock like what our coaches told us to do,” said Toluono.

The Eagles would prevail however and close out CSI to move to 2-0 on the season in conference play.

Saturday’s win was a result of a very good week of practice according to Carlisle.

“We were focused all week on CSI and we prepared hard and our coaches believed in us,” said Carlisle.

USU Eastern’s leading scorer on Saturday was freshman guard Emmery Wagstaff with 19 points.

Sophomore forward Alyssa Crumley also contributed in both points and rebounds with 15 points and eight boards.

Up next for the 14-3 Eagles is a road trip on Thursday against nationally ranked Salt Lake Community College.

Thursday’s game will begin at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen on the Scenic West Digital Network.