MOSCOW, Idaho – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team took on the preseason Big Sky Conference favorites, Idaho, on Thursday evening (Jan. 3) in Moscow. Despite the Eagles shooting over 46 percent from the field with four in double figures, they dropped the 84-68 decision.
 
Violet Kapri Morrow led the way with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting and was 5-for-5 from the free throw line. In just her second game as an Eagle, Andie Easley added 11 points while leading the team with three assists and five rebounds after shooting 5-for-8 from the field. Brittany Klaman and Grace Kirscher rounded out the scoring with 10 points each.
 
"Idaho is a scoring machine, so in order to keep up with them you have to be able to score. We got jammed up there, a tribute to them playing good defense, but I think offensively we just have to have flow," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "I thought we had a good first quarter, we came out swinging and doing what we needed to do."
 
The first quarter was competitive with both sides shooting often and early. Eastern Washington shot 53.8 percent from the field on 7-for-13 shooting while the Vandals shot 47.1 percent on 8-for-17. Midway through the quarter, Violet Kapri Morrow drove and completed an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 15-15. Idaho was able to pull away and held a slight 22-17 lead after one quarter of play.
 
The Vandals pulled ahead and built a 27-17 lead over the Eagles. Despite Andie Easley's five second quarter points, Eastern Washington found themselves in an offensive lull and were outscored 21-8 in the second frame, shooting just 27.3 percent from the field and trailed 43-25 at the half.
 
Eastern Washington ended the first half on a 4-0 run and an Alissa Sealby three-pointer seconds into the third quarter extended the run to 7-0. The Vandals used a 13-0 run during the third quarter to push their advantage to 66-40.
 
EWU's offensive momentum picked up in the fourth quarter as the Eagles refused to back down. Trailing 74-49 with 5:14 to go, Brittany Klaman connected on a three-pointer that sparked a 15-0 run for the Eagles, which included seven points from Morrow. However, the spark came too late as the Eagles dropped the 84-68 decision despite outscoring the Vandals 28-18 in the fourth.
 
"It was nice to have momentum in the fourth quarter, but it isn't good to be in the hole that we were in. Hopefully, we can carry some of that offensive flow and rhythm and the attack mindset," added Schuller. "To score 28 points in the fourth quarter is great for us and to shoot 46 percent from the field, that's the best we've done all season. There were some positives, but the score is a big negative. They're a really good basketball team and are picked to win the conference for a reason."
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, the Eagles are now 2-10 on the season and 1-2 in Big Sky play. The Vandals improve to 6-6 with an unblemished 3-0 record in conference play.
 
Idaho has now won two-straight over the Eagles and lead the all-time series 36-32.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Violet Kapri Morrow scored in double figures for the 10^th-straight game, adding 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. She also led the team with three steals.
 
In just her second game as an Eagle, Andie Easley scored 11 points while leading the team with five rebounds and three assists. Brittany Klaman added 10 points to go with five rebounds. Grace Kirscher was the other Eagle in double figures with 10.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles had the higher efficiency over the Vandals, shooting 46.2 percent on 24-for-52 compared to Idaho's 44.1 percent on 30-for-68. Eastern also shot 40 percent from beyond the arc, draining six three pointers but the Vandals hit 10. Eastern had nine steals, but only nine assists with 31 rebounds.
 
KAPRI'S QUEST TO 1,000:  Senior Violet Kapri Morrow is on the road to joining one of the most exclusive clubs in college basketball, the 1,000-point club. With 19 points at Idaho, Morrow now has 972 points and needs just 28 more to become the 18^th player in Eastern Washington women's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 points.
 
Morrow's performance catapulted her in 21^st on Eastern's all-time scoring list. She passed Missy Chubb (1989-02) and Allie Bailey (1999-02) who had 957 and 978 points, respectively. Morrow needs just seven more points to crack the top-20 and pass Susan Smith (1987-89) who had 978 points.
 
UP NEXT: Tonight's game ended a six-straight on the road for Eastern Washington. For the first time since Dec. 2, the Eagles return home on Monday, Jan. 7 to host Northern Colorado at 6:05 p.m. For tickets visit, GoEags.com/tickets for more information.