CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team hosted Mountain West foe Boise State at Reese Court today (Dec. 15). In a back-and-forth contest that saw the Eagles lead for 21:13 through five ties and four lead changes, EWU fell on a last-second shot, 63-61.
 
Three Eagles scored in double figures this afternoon in Grace Kirscher who led all players with 20 points and Jenna Dick and Kennedy Dickie who each added 15.
 
"I'm proud of our team's effort. I thought we did as well as we've done all year in terms of sticking to a game plan and understanding what we wanted to do on both ends of the floor," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "Our guards have been putting in a lot of extra time shooting the ball and I thought that showed today. It's a tough one to lose."
 
Both teams were off to a slow start, as Boise State was just 3-for-8 from the floor and the Eagles were 1-for-9 to open play. After the Eagles were scoreless for 4:33 as Boise State went on a 5-0 run, a Grace Kirscher bucket snapped the run to put the Eagles within three, 8-5. Kennedy Dickie went on a 5-0 run of her own and a corner three-pointer gave EWU its first lead of the game, 11-10. From there, the Eagles exploded for six more points and closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 15-10 at the end of the first frame.
 
The Eagles scored four quick points and extended the run to 14-2 into the second quarter. After Kirscher forced a turnover, she grabbed the steal and went coast-to-coast for the floater to bring the Eagles ahead 21-14. EWU then locked down defensively and held the Broncos without a field goal for over four minutes but fell cold themselves for 3:19.
 
The Broncos then found momentum and closed the second quarter on a 13-3 run to take a slight 27-24 lead at the end of the second. Both Kirscher and Dickie would end the half with 10 points each, as the Eagles shot 32.1 percent from the field (9-28) while the Broncos shot 33.3 percent (10-30).
 
Jenna Dick hit back-to-back three pointers to put the Eagles back within two points, 35-33. The freshman would explode for 13 of her 15 points in the third quarter. Kirscher then hit a three-pointer to put the Eagles back within a point and it sparked a 7-0 run for the Eagles. It was all Eastern Washington from there, as they closed the third quarter on a 12-1 run and held Boise State without a field goal for the final 3:06. Dick hit a corner three-pointer at the buzzer, putting the Eagles ahead 47-41 as they outscored the Broncos 23-14 during the third while shooting 52.9 percent from the field.
 
The Eagles held their largest lead of 11 points with 6:35 to go in the fourth quarter. The Broncos went on a 6-0 run and cut the lead to five points with 4:00 to go and Kirscher made a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 59-51. Boise State's Braydey Hodgins made it to the free throw line twice and made all four attempts to cut Eastern's lead to two points with 1:16 to play. With 58 seconds to go, the Broncos tied the game 61-61 as their 8-0 run extended.
 
With two seconds on the clock, Hodgins came through again and made the game-winning layup. Eastern Washington called timeout and advanced the ball and Kirscher's good-look at a three-pointer bounced three times but never made it through the hoop as the Eagles fell 63-61 to Boise State.
 
"Everything that happened in today's game should give us confidence. Boise State is a team that will most likely win their conference again and has been a perennial NCAA tournament team. There we some unfortunate things that happened in the fourth quarter on both ends of the floor, I thought things got physical and we didn't respond to it the way we should've," added Schuller. "I was really proud of our team for battling and for willing to step up. I told Grace that although the ball didn't go in, she wanted to take the shot and I want players on my team who want to take that shot and are willing to put themselves on the line because that isn't an easy thing to do. She knows that next time she will knock it down. At the end of the day, we want to win so we'll get back to work."
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington falls to 1-6 on the season after the loss while Boise State, the two-time defending Mountain West Champions, improve to 8-4.
 
The Broncos have now won six-straight over the Eagles as four out of the last five annual meetings have been decided by five points or less.
TOP PERFORMANCES: Eastern Washington had three Eagles in double figures, led by Grace Kirscher who scored 20 points to lead all players.  The sophomore was 8-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc to go with two assists and three steals to lead the team. The total marks the third 20-point performance of her career and the first of the season.
 
The freshmen duo of Kennedy Dickie and Jenna Dick each put up 15 points. Dickie's total ties her career-high and she now has four-straight games in double figures. Dick has scored in double figures in two-straight games in her second career start. Dick and Dickie were both 3-for-7 from the three-point line.
 
Jessica McDowell-White dished out five assists to lead the team and added seven points while Bella Cravens led the way with nine rebounds and two blocks.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington shot 40 percent on 24-for-60 from the field while Boise State shot 41.1 percent, making 23 of their 56 attempts.
 
EWU held the Broncos, who average 8.9 three-pointers per game to rank fifth in the nation, to just 5-for-19 (26.3%) from three-point range while the Eagles sank 10 of their 31 three-point attempts to shoot 32.3 percent.
 
Eastern Washington only made it to the free throw line twice, going 3-for-4. The Broncos on the other hand were 12-for-14 from the charity stripe.
 
The Eagles were edged in rebounds, 38 to 32 and each team committed 15 turnovers. Eastern Washington was outscored in the paint, 34 to 18.
 
UP NEXT: This afternoon's contest was the final non-conference game at home for the Eagles. They'll close non-conference play at the Roo Holiday Classic, beginning on Dec. 21 with a 1 p.m. Pacific time match up against the hosts Kansas City before closing against Bradley on Dec. 22 at 9 a.m. PT.
 
Eastern Washington will be back to open Big Sky Conference play at home against Weber State on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 2:05 p.m. and on Monday, Dec. 30 against Idaho State at 6:05 p.m. For tickets and ticket specials for the month of December, visit GoEags.com/tickets.