KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team opened the Roo Holiday Classic today (Dec. 20), taking on the hosts Kansas City. The Eagles had three score in double figures, but fell 66-55.
 
Bella Cravens led the team with 13 points, while Jessica McDowell-White added 11 and Jenna Dick scored 10. Freshman Alexyss Newman pulled down 10 rebounds.
 
"I was really proud of our effort today. Kansas City is a quality basketball team and I thought we did a lot of things well, especially in the first half," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "The third quarter was just a killer, going 2-for-16 from the field. We just can't have dry spells like that and then give up big shots. We're going to go back and get some rest and get ready for tomorrow."
 
Kansas City scored first at the 9:29 mark and not again until 5:58. During that time, McDowell-White hit two three pointers and the Eagles led 8-4 at the first media timeout after an 8-0 run.
 
Out of the break, the Roos continued on a 9-0 run to lead 11-8. A Leya DePriest layup would snap the run as Eastern used a 5-0 spurt to pull back ahead 13-11. The two teams would go back and forth, with Eastern going 2-2 on their attempts and the Roos completing 3-3 as KC regained the 18-17 lead at the end of the first quarter with neither team scoring during the final minute.
 
An early 5-0 run helped the Eagles lead 22-18 to open the second quarter. After falling cold for nearly three minutes, EWU snapped the spell by going on a 7-2 run and hitting 3-of-3 attempts to lead 31-26. Grace Kirscher would cash in a three pointer to give EWU its largest lead of the afternoon before KC used a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to one point. At the half, the Eagles held on to the 34-33 lead.
 
EWU hit six three-pointers during the first half and shot 46.7 percent (14-31) from the field while holding the Roos to just 38.9 percent (14-36) and 3-for-12 from behind the arc.
 
The Eagles struggled offensively coming out of the locker room to start the second half, going just 2-for-16 from the field during the third to trail 52-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Down 57-45 in the fourth, Eastern Washington cruised on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to just five points and held Kansas City scoreless for nearly five minutes. It would not be enough, however, as the Roos outscored the Eagles 8-3 in the final 3:26 of play to claim the 66-55 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, Eastern Washington drops to 1-7 on the season while Kansas City improves to 6-6.
 
It was the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Roos, as EWU now moves to 7-2 all-time against WAC opponents.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Eastern Washington was led by Bella Cravens who scored 13 points to go with three blocks, two assists and six rebounds.
 
Jessica McDowell-White followed with 11 points, nine of which came from behind the arc, while leading the team with five assists.
 
Jenna Dick scored in double figures for the third-straight game, adding 10 points to go with three three-pointers.
 
Alexyss Newman led the team with a career high 10 rebounds and also added six points, two assists, a steal and a block.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington shot 33.9 percent from the field, making 20 of 59 attempts. They were 8-for-13 from three (34.8%) and 7-for-13 from the free throw line (53.8%).
 
Kansas City was 25-for-66 from the field (37.9%), 10-for-27 from three-point range (37.0%) and 6-for-10 from the free throw line (60%).
 
Both teams were even with 41 rebounds each. Eastern Washington committed 13 turnovers to KC's eight and were outscored in the paint 18-to-28 but outscored the Roos 18-to-4 on second chance points thanks to 14 offensive rebounds.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington closes the Roo Holiday Classic and non-conference play tomorrow morning, Dec. 21, against Bradley (8-2) at 9 a.m. Pacific time. The game will not be streamed.