Jan. 20, 2007

Final Stats

The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team (6-13, 1-5 Big Sky Conference) dropped a 78-54 decision to the University of Northern Colorado Bears in Greeley, Colo., on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 20). The Eagles, however, were able to take several positives away from the contest. 

The Eagles came within one of tying their 23-year-old school record for free throw percentage, hitting on 19-of-20 attempts. The record of 20-of-20 was set in a 62-56 win at Idaho on Jan. 27, 1984. Today's percentage is the second-highest in the Big Sky this year for teams who attempted at least 10 free throws (Idaho State made all 15 in a 102-64 win over Montana-Western on Dec. 20).

Sydney Benson recorded a double-double for the second straight game, fifth overall this season, as she contributed 12 points and a game- and Eagle season-high 14 rebounds. She also nailed all eight of her free throws. The last time an Eagle had that many rebounds came on Feb. 25, 2006, when Felice Moore grabbed 14 rebounds in a 63-56 win at Montana State.

Other players scoring in double-figures for Eastern included Katy Baker (13) and Nicole Scott (10). Baker also had 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season, while Scott started the contest to record her first starting assignment of the freshman's Eagle career.

Unfortunately for Eastern, the free throw shooting excellence did not extend to the playing court, as the Eagles were only able to shoot at a 20.8 percent clip (16-of-77).

The Eagles stayed right with the Bears in the opening half, as the most points the teams were separated by were seven, which UNC earned at the horn, 38-31.Eastern took a 31-28 lead with 4:25 remaining, but the Bears ran off the next 10 points to end the half. After the second half commenced, Northern Colorado extended its run to 15-0 and pulled away from there.

The win for the Bears was their first in Big Sky Conference history.

The Eagles now return home for a four-game home stand after going on two of the toughest road trips in the conference (Montana State-Montana and Northern Arizona-Northern Colorado) and opening Big Sky play with five road games out of six.

First up is the Weber State Wildcats, who are off to their best Big Sky start in school history after demolishing Montana, 64-49, on Saturday to improve to 6-0 in league play, 11-8 overall. The Lady Griz had entered that contest with a 16-1 record (4-0 BSC) and received a high number of votes in both the AP and the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls this week. Game time is 7:05 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 26)