The USU Eastern women’s basketball team will meet the Colorado Northwestern Spartans in the opening round of the Scenic West Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday night at Snow College in Ephraim.

Entering the tournament as the No. 4 seed, the Eagles will face No. 5 Colorado Northwestern for the fourth time this season. The previous three ended in favor of USU Eastern.

“I would definitely hate if our team walked into the gym Thursday thinking we are going to win easy,” said assistant coach Morgan Warburton-Nelson Tuesday on KOAL’s Drive Time Sports. “Colorado has improved a lot so we can’t just assume we are going to win. We have to do the little things to get the job done.”

Despite finishing 4-8 in conference play, the Eagles defeated Colorado by an average margin of 34 points in three tries. The other league win came at home against the College of Southern Idaho.

“I think the do-or-die part of the tournament really has motivated our team,” said Warburton-Nelson. “They’ve given everything they’ve got throughout the whole year. Things haven’t always gone our way, but I believe that we have the opportunity to do something amazing.”

A win for the Eagles on Thursday puts the team in a semifinal matchup with No. 11 Salt Lake City Community College. The conference championship game will take place Saturday night at 5:00 p.m..

Live coverage of Thursday’s contest will begin at 4:00 pm on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM, followed by tip-off at 5:00. The live audio feed will also be available at castlecountryradio.com.

*Photo courtesy of USU Eastern sports information*