Game Notes

Cheney, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team will head to Reno, Nev., this week for the 2016 Big Sky Conference Basketball Championship with the prize of an NCAA Tournament bid up for grabs between all 12 conference schools.
 
Eastern (19-11, 13-5 Big Sky) enters the league tournament as the No. 2 overall seed and will play in one of four quarterfinal games at the Reno Events Center this Wednesday, Mar. 9. The Eagles will meet either No. 7 Sacramento State or No. 10 Southern Utah at 5:35 p.m. PST that afternoon.
 
The Eagles finished tied for second in the Big Sky standings after being picked to finish sixth by the media and ninth by the league's coaches in the preseason polls.
 
EWU split the season series with Sacramento State as each team won on the other's home floor. The Eagles cruised past the Hornets, 100-83, in Sacramento, Calif., back on Jan. 30, but CSUS got revenge with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win, 94-91, at Reese Court on Feb. 18.
 
Sacramento State (13-16, 10-8 BSC) comes into Reno having won six of its last eight contests. Known for its continuous full-court pressure defense, the Hornets led the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 88.1 points per game in league play while forcing league opponents to commit an average of 22.7 turnovers per game.
 
The Eagles won both of their meetings with Southern Utah this season, notching an 85-82 win in Cedar City, Utah, on Jan. 14, and a 64-53 triumph in Cheney on Feb. 6.
 
Southern Utah (5-24, 2-16 BSC) was the last Big Sky team to register a league victory this season but concluded the regular season with wins in two of its last three outings. The Thunderbirds averaged 58.8 points per game in Big Sky play and dropped their only meeting against Sacramento State, 82-72, in Cedar City this past week.
 
Montana State enters the Big Sky Tournament as the No. 1 seed while Idaho and North Dakota round out the top four. The top four seeds all received byes into the quarterfinal round while seeds No. 5-12 have to duke it out in first-round games starting tomorrow, Mar. 7.