EATON — Behind a career-night from junior Olivia Orr, Eaton’s women’s basketball team earned its first win of the season.

Orr notched a career-best 27 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Eagles to a 44-41 win over visiting Carlisle on Thursday, Dec. 14.

“I was very proud of our players. This was a nice team win. We made some adjustments to try to put people in better positions to score and they executed things well. We had a couple of very good days leading up to this game and we executed our gameplan well at both ends,” Eaton coach Dave Honhart said.

Eaton soared to a 10-0 lead four minutes into the game and never trailed.

“We expected Carlisle would show their 1-3-1 against us,” Honhart said. “We attacked it well, which led to them switching to man to man, and that made it harder for them to double team Olivia Orr.

Honhart said Orr has been adjusting to being the opponent’s main focus.

“I am extremely happy for Olivia. She has been working hard to learn a new role as a go to scorer,” he said. “Obviously, it’s fun to score a lot of points, but there’s a lot of pressure that comes with it, and you also have to figure out when to shoot and when to move the ball. She’s done a nice job of developing that understanding.”

Eaton led 16-6 after one and was up 23-21 at the half. Carlisle opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run of it own to tied the game.

After the Indians tied the game a 23-23 early in the third, the Eagles went on a 5-0 run to regain the lead for good, taking a 31-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

Eaton extended its lead to 43-34 with just over three minutes left, but the Indians battled back and had a chance to tied the game with a shot at the buzzer.

Junior Charlee Ruebush has also adjusted to a new role in playing point guard since an injury to Emilee Hargis, who will miss the remainder of the season.

“Charlee Ruebush continues to do a nice job running the show as our point guard, and we are working on getting Autumn Gillenwater some time there, so Charlee can play off the ball a little bit more, which is a more natural position for her,” Honhart said. “Autumn had a big steal and free throw late, which helped seal the win.”

Gillenwater, a freshman, scored nine points.

Junior Emily Haynes provided the defense a spark as well. Honhart also noted the play of Caroline Miller (five points, six rebounds) and Sydnie Stewart.

“Emily Haynes did a nice job of being disruptive on top of our zone defense that we sometimes play, Caroline Miller does all the little things well, and Sydnie Stewart provided a nice spark off the bench,” he said.

Eaton has been without the services of senior Gracie Copper, who suffered an injury during a game against Oakwood.

“We are hoping to get Gracie Copper back soon as she recovers from an injury, but in the mean time, we’ll take beating a 5-2 Carlisle team and enjoy it, while continuing to work to improve,” he said.

Eaton closed out the week with a 74-23 loss at D-II power Carroll on Saturday. Miller led the way with nine points.

Eaton (1-6, 1-4 SWBL) is scheduled to play at Waynesville (9-0, 5-0) Thursday, Dec. 21.

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.