CHENEY, Wash – At home for the first time this season, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team played host to Pepperdine on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 1) inside Reese Court. The Eagles had a two-point lead with seconds remaining, but the Waves nailed a buzzer-beater three-pointer to claim the 53-52 decision.
 
"I was proud of our effort overall. Defensively, we were locked in and held Pepperdine to just 28 percent from the field," said head coach Wendy Schuller." I thought we did some good things, but they deserve credit for making shots late. We had a couple of turnovers that were tough, we just have to get better in those moments. As a whole, I thought we battled."
 
Eastern Washington trailed 9-7 at the first media timeout when Grace Kirscher and Bella Cravens made back-to-back jumpers to help Eastern take an 11-7 lead. After being held scoreless for 2:36, Jessica McDowell-White hit a three-pointer to give the Eagles a 14-11 lead. The Waves hit a jumper with seconds left, but EWU still held the 14-13 advantage after one quarter of play.  
 
Pepperdine used a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter to pull ahead 21-16. A Brittany Klaman layup on a fast break snapped the run and put EWU back within three points. From there, both sides would trade baskets with Pepperdine holding the slight advantage. Kennedy Dickie nailed a corner three-point at the buzzer to help Eastern finish the quarter on a 5-0 run to trail by one point, 26-25, at the half.
 
Eastern shot 33.3 (11-33) percent from the field to even with Pepperdine who shot 32.4 percent (11-34).  
 
The Eagles used a 7-0 run during the third quarter to take a 34-33 lead. After the Waves regained the advantage, a Leya DePriest layup followed by a Brittany Klaman three-pointer gave EWU its largest lead of the game, 39-35. Pepperdine closed the third quarter on a 4-0 run to knot the game at 39-39 after three quarters. Eastern Washington shot 35.3 percent from the field while holding PU to 27.8 percent during the frame.
 
Eastern Washington pulled back ahead 45-42 after a 4-0 run and then held Pepperdine without a field goal for 3:04. A McDowell-White three-pointer capped a 6-0 run to help Eastern lead 50-43.
 
With 2:55 to go in the fourth quarter, Cravens made a free throw to help Eastern go up 51-43 for its largest lead of the day. Pepperdine went through another scoreless streak that lasted 3:45 until they nailed a jumper to make it 51-45 Eastern Washington. From there, the Waves went on a 5-0 run to cut Eastern's lead to just a point with eight seconds on the clock, 51-50.
 
Klaman went 1-for-2 from the free throw line as the Eagles went up 52-50 with seven seconds remaining.
 
Down at the other end, a last-second Pepperdine shot attempt was swatted by Cravens and the ball went out of bounds with less than a second remaining. Pepperdine's out-of-bounds play landed in the hands of Malia Bambrick who hit the three-pointer as time expired, giving Pepperdine the 53-52 decision.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington falls to 0-5 on the season while Pepperdine improves to 5-2.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Bella Cravens led all players with a career-high 17 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and the second of her career. She also led the Eagles with three blocks.
 
Freshman Kennedy Dickie was the other Eagle in double figures with a career-best 13 points.
 
Jessica McDowell-White had nine rebounds and three steals to lead the team while Brittany Klaman dished out six assists to go with eight points.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington was 22-for-61 from the field to shoot 36.1 percent on the night. They were also 6-for-23 (26.1) from three-point range and 2-for-6 (26.1) from the charity stripe.
 
Pepperdine was held to just 28.4 percent from the field (21-74), 23.8 percent from three (5-21) and 60 percent from the free throw line (6-10).
 
The Waves had the slight 49-to-48 edge in rebounds and only committed seven turnovers to Eastern's 18. The Eagles had 14 assists to PU's 13, but outscored the Waves in the paint, 32 to 22.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington stays at home a week from today to host Northwest Christian at 1:05 p.m. at Reese Court.