Sailor Liefke (22) drives toward the basket on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, against an Oregon Tech defender at Klamath Falls. Liefke earned Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball player of the week on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021.

LA GRANDE — It was a come-from-behind effort that came down to the final whistle, but the Eastern Oregon University came away with a huge upset at home on Friday, Dec. 17.

The Mountaineers defeated LC State 72-70 to hand the Warriors their first loss of the season. Taylor Stricklin, Sailor Liefke and Adyson Harris led the way in scoring as Eastern relied on a big second-half effort to improve to 6-6 on the year and 3-1 in conference play.

The Warriors edged out a big deficit in the second quarter to gain a 38-29 lead at halftime. Eastern flipped the script in the third quarter and cut the lead to 56-55 heading into the final frame.

The Mountaineers trailed 70-69 with just under a minute to go — the score stood until the clock ticked down to single digits.

With seven seconds to go, Harris converted a three-pointer to ignite the crowd and take a 72-20 lead late in the matchup. She finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds.

LC State turned the ball over with three seconds left and Eastern held on for the win. The victory is the second straight for the Mountaineers as the team started the weekend homestead in the win column. Up next, Eastern will host Walla Walla at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 18.