The Snow College women's basketball team concluded its opening conference homestand as they fell to both No. 20 Salt Lake Community College 73-58 and Utah State University Eastern 64-58.

The Badgers are coming off their conference opener, where they decisively took down Colorado Northwestern Community College 68-46. 

The match started as both teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the first quarter, which led to an 8-8 score. The Bruins would turn on the jets to close out the first period on a 14-6 run to go up 22-14. 

Dalana Jakovljevic opened the second quarter with a personal five-point burst to get the ball rolling for the Badgers and to keep pace with the Bruins. The Badgers would outscore the Bruins 6-2 to enter the half down four, 32-28. 

The second half had SLCC open with an 8-3 run to extend their lead to nine before Seini Tuipulotu and Hartlynn Richins would combine for the next eight points, four apiece, to close the gap to one. The Bruins matched the energy with their own 10-2 run to push the lead back to nine entering the final stanza. 

The Badgers regained momentum to start the final quarter of action as Lala Baldwin knocked down back-to-back threes, the second of which was from 28. It was followed by an Avery Allred steal on the next possession that led to Tuipulotu putting the game back within a point on a fastbreak layup. 

SLCC would proceed to outscore the Badgers 23-9the rest of the way to close out the game 73-58. 
Three Badgers scored double digits, with Baldwin leading the way with 14 points. Allred and Jakovljevic were right behind with 13 and 12, respectively. Tuipulotu was the leading rebounder for the Badgers with 11 and was one point shy of a double-double with nine points. 

Following the match with SLCC, the Badgers turned their attention to the visiting Eagles, who were in town for their first of two visits this season. 

USUE would start the game with the first five points of the contest, but the Badgers would find some of their own production to keep the Eagles in reach with a score of 9-5 by the midway point of the first quarter. 
USUE would spark a 10-4 run the rest of the period before Baldwin connected on a three-point play in the final 10 seconds as she got the layup to fall plus the accompanying free throw to bring the score to 19-12 into the second quarter. 

Baldwin would keep the heat on as she got back-to-back threes to rain in to start the second quarter to pull the score back to three points. Both teams continued the point exchange as the Badgers outpaced the Eagles 15-12 in the period. The Eagles were able to maintain their lead into the half, up 31-27. 

The Badgers would start the second half on the back foot as USUE went on a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 10, five minutes into the period. 

A Tuipulotu jumper and steal on the following possession kick-started the Badgers' offense as Kysa Shippen was able to deliver a fast break layup off the steal and a 6-3 run to cut the lead to 44-37 entering the final quarter of play. 

The final stanza saw both sides trade points early until Baldwin hit a three-pointer, combined with a Megan Johnson layup the following possession, to cut the lead to four with 5:30 to play. USUE would answer with its own five-point run to keep Snow College at bay. The Badgers wouldn't get the Eagles' lead below four points for the remainder of the game as they fell 64-58. 

Baldwin led the way for the Badgers with 20 points and four rebounds. The only other double-digit scorer was Sydnee Smith with 10 points. Johnson led the Badgers in rebounds with seven and recorded seven points to accompany it.  

Snow College will head on the road for the first time in conference play as it takes a trip to Idaho. The Badgers will face off against No. 11 College of Southern Idaho Thursday at 5:00 p.m. in Twin Falls, Idaho. They will then head up to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to face North Idaho College Jan. 17 at 2:00 p.m. MST. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.