Box Score TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (February 9, 2019) - The unique nature of the Scenic West Athletic Conference means that teams have several chances to see each other and to compare their growth throughout the season.

For the No. 20 Salt Lake Community College women's basketball team, their continued growth has manifested itself in success against in-state rival USU Eastern once again as the Bruins rolled to a 70-53 victory over the Eagles to move to 21-4 overall and 7-2 in league play. The win keeps Salt Lake in a tie for first place with rival Snow College.

Bruins coach Betsy Specketer said the win was an important confidence-builder for her program.

"I thought we played really well defensively against a team that can really shoot well," she said. "The third round of conference play is such a grind, so defense and rebounding are always key."

SLCC handled itself admirably in both of those categories, with the Bruins limiting USU Eastern to just 36.4 percent shooting in the game and just 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range. Salt Lake held a comfortable 33-26 lead at halftime, erupting for a 22-7 run in the third quarter that saw the Bruins limit USU Eastern to just 3-of-14 from the field.

Defensively, Salt Lake held a 38-29 rebounding edge while also forcing 19 USU Eastern turnovers. The Bruins finished with 13 steals in the game.

Just days after verbally committing to BYU, Lauren Gustin posted a strong performance of 27 points and 11 rebounds. Miki'ala Maio had 14 points and 8 rebounds. In the same week after being named SWAC player-of-the-week, Laura Pichot scored 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting. 

Salt Lake will play its final weekend of home-and-away basketball this upcoming week, with two critical games lining the schedule. The Bruins will travel to play Southern Idaho on Thursday, followed up with a home game on Saturday against Snow College. The game will start at 3:00 p.m. inside the Lifetime Activities Center, with the annual "Sophomore Night" festivities taking place during the game.