LAHAINA, Hawaii – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team opened up play at the Maui Classic Friday evening (Dec. 14). The Eagles took on the hosts No. 8 Oregon State and fell by a final score of 93-45. Freshman Grace Kirscher led the team with 17 points.

"Oregon State deserves a ton of credit. They are an exceptional team with great size, point guard play and shooters. We knew they would be very good in all of those aspects and they were," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "We had moments today that were certainly in the direction we want to be headed and I was pleased to see that effort. Right now, our goal is to get some rest and prepare quickly for UC Riverside tomorrow."
 
Oregon State started things off with a three-point field goal but it was the Eastern Washington defense that locked down early, holding the Beavers scoreless for over five minutes straight. During that time, the Eagles took an early 5-3 advantage. Both sides struggled early on, but OSU found the first breakthrough with an 8-0 run to lead 11-7. Grace Kirscher and Brittany Klaman would snap the run with back-to-back three-pointers to help Eastern close the first quarter on a 6-0 run. After one frame, the Eagles and the No. 8 Beavers were knotted up at 13-13.
 
The Beavers used an 18-0 run to build its largest lead of the game in the second quarter. Alissa Sealby would break the scoring spree with an old-fashioned three-point play that was followed up with another Kirscher three-pointer. Eastern closed the second quarter on a 6-0 run, but trailed 36-23 at the half.
 
Feeling right at home in her native state, Bella Cravens led the Eagles with six third quarter points after going 3-for-4 from field goal range. The freshman made her first career start and added six points on the evening setting a new career-high. Despite shooting 43.8 percent from the field in the third, the Eastern Washington couldn't catch the hot-shooting Beavers and trailed 67-35 after three quarters of play.
 
OSU used a 24-3 run in the fourth quarter to take the 93-45 decision.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, Eastern Washington falls to 1-7 on the season. No. 8 Oregon State improves to 8-1 overall.
 
Oregon State now leads the all-time series, 6-1 in the seventh-ever, and first since Nov. 2011, meeting between the two squads.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: For the second time in her career, Grace Kirscher led the Eagles in scoring with 17 points. The freshman made 7-of-11 from the field including 3-for-5 from three-point range. Alissa Sealby followed with eight points and led the team with five rebounds.
 
Uriah Howards also grabbed five boards and added six points. Freshman Bella Cravens, in her home state of Hawaii, set a new career-high of six points in her first career start. Cravens also recorded the only block for the Eagles. Brittany Klaman led the team with three assists and two steals.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington shot 32 percent from the field on 18-of-56 shooting compared to Oregon State's 58 percent (33-57). The Beavers also hit 14 three pointers on 27 attempts. The Eagles were outrebounded 23-40 and were 3-for-5 from the charity stripe compared to OSU who was 13-for-18.
 
UP NEXT: The second and final day of the Maui Classic takes place tomorrow, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The contest marks the final non-conference game of the season for the Eagles.