Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PRICE, UT – The women's basketball team participated in the SLCC Thanksgiving Tournament over the weekend in Taylorsville.

The Eagles traveled up north to the campus of Salt Lake Community College after spending time with friends and family for Thanksgiving. They played Friday afternoon against Casper College, a team they lost to earlier this month 70-51.

Although the game was much closer than the previous meeting, the Eagles fell short again 72-56. Head Coach Chelsey Warburton said that key mistakes down the stretch in the fourth quarter made a difference in the outcome of the game this time around.

"Casper is a great team and has a solid group with some key sophomore players.  They do a great job on both ends of the court.  Our team played well against them, we were in the game until the last couple minutes of the fourth quarter where we made some defensive mistakes that Casper scored on," said Warburton.

Freshman Madison Loftus led the Eagles in scoring with 18 points. She had five rebounds and two assists against Casper as well. Sophomore Maile Richardson had another impressive game this season, she scored 10 points with three rebounds and three assists.

Providing a spark off the bench was sophomore Bryndie Ballam who scored 8 points with two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. This season Ballam has been averaging 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds coming off the bench in nine of the ten games the Eagles have played.

On Saturday the Eagles wrapped up the weekend with a big 76-49 win against Williston State College. In both games the Eagles were without starting forward Baylee Leiter due to injury. Stepping up to fill her void was sophomores Mateah Tuckett and Ashlyn Coleman.

"Ashlyn Coleman and Mateah Tuckett both played great minutes for us and contributed both ends of the floor," said Warburton.

Tuckett came off the bench and had 7 points with five rebounds against Williston State. Coleman finished the game with a solid 12 points and 6 rebounds. The leading scorer for the Eagles was Loftus who scored 14 points with 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists.

One of the biggest reasons for the win was the defensive effort by the Eagles. They only allowed their opponent to score six points in the third quarter and the team had a total of 12 steals and 4 blocks in the game.

Another highlight of the game was the Eagles free throw percentage. They finished the game shooting 79 percent from the free throw line, a stat that Coach Warburton said is key in winning games at this level.

"Anytime the team can shoot 80% or higher from the free throw line will improve our chances of winning ball games.  Confidence is key and that is what we are trying to build in our players, they responded well this weekend," said Warburton.

With the win the Eagles now have an overall record at 6-3. This week they have no games scheduled but will continue to practice and give time for players to prepare for their upcoming finals.

Next Friday the Eagles will host the Utah All Stars, a team of former college players from the state of Utah. Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m. and will be streamed on the Utah State Eastern athletic's YouTube channel.

Fans can follow the Eagles all season long on Facebook at USU Eastern Athletics and on Twitter at twitter.com/usueathletics.