CHENEY, Wash. – The second half of Big Sky Conference play gets underway for the Eastern Washington women's basketball team at Reese Court this week for a pair of games against Montana State and Montana. The Eagles play host to the Bobcats on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. before taking on the Grizzlies on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. EWU will be going for the season sweep over both programs after previously topping them on the road in January.
 
COMING UP AT REESE COURT: The first 100 students at Thursday's game against Montana State receive free ice cream sandwiches.
 
Join the Eagles for Alumni Appreciation Day on Saturday against Montana. All EWU Alumni can purchase a $5.00 ticket through the alumni office for Saturday's contest. It's also $1 Day at Reese Court, as the concession stand will be offering hot dogs, ice cream sandwiches and canned pop for just $1.
 
Saturday also includes fun for all of the Lil' Eags with special appearances by fairytale characters (Princess Rapunzel, Prince Ryder, Superman and Heroic Captain) with photo opportunities along the Reese Court concourse. There will also be Eagle tattoos, a sign making station, a basketball hoop, games like corn hole and spin to win and a photo station. In addition to postgame autographs with the EWU women's basketball team, all kids in attendance will get to form a tunnel on the court for the Eagles to run through as they re-enter the court after halftime.
 
HOW TO WATCH: For fans unable to join in on the festivities at Reese Court, both games can be watched for free on Pluto TV Channel 234 or on WatchBigSky.com. Additionally, live stats can be found on EWUStats.com with live, in-game updates and video highlights on Twitter, @EWUWBB.
 
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is coming off a 1-1 weekend on the road last week. After falling to Southern Utah, 73-63, on Jan. 31, the Eagles bounced back at Northern Arizona and picked up a 64-62 win on Feb. 2.
 
With the second half of Big Sky play underway, the Eagles find themselves tied with Sacramento State in seventh place in the league standings. With the first five teams receiving a bye at the conference tournament, EWU is eager to move up the standings as they currently have a record of 5-14 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
 
Violet Kapri Morrow, who is two points away from cracking the top-ten on Eastern's all-time scoring list, leads the Eagles with 18.7 points per game on 44.2 percent shooting from the field. The mark ranks her 46^th in the nation in scoring and fourth in the Big Sky. She also averages 19.9 points per game in conference play while leading the team with 5.6 rebounds per game and adding 1.5 steals per contest.
 
Freshman Grace Kirscher is second on the team with 10.5 points per game and 11.7 in BSC play while shooting over 40.8 percent from the field. At Southern Utah, Kirscher was a perfect 6-for-6 from three-point range.
 
Alissa Sealby, who averages 10.3 points per game in conference play, rounds out the top-scorers for the Eagles with 8.9 points per game. She ranks third in the Big Sky in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 41.6 percent of her shots from behind the arc.
 
Brittany Klaman has dished at least one assist in every game this year and leads the team with 3.1 per game. She is 10^th in the conference in assist/turnover ratio with 1.3. Freshman Bella Cravens leads the Eagles with 0.9 per game, totaling 18 on the year.
 
As a team, the Eagles are averaging 66.0 points per game in conference play with 34.5 rebounds per game. They also add 12.9 assists, 6.5 steals and 3.0 blocks per game in the Big Sky. Overall, Eastern Washington is 44^th in the nation with 8.1 three-point field goals per game. They are shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range which is 87^th.
 
A LOOK AT THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 11-10 overall with a 6-5 mark in conference play, ranking fourth in the standings. The Bobcats have lost three out of their last five games, including a home matchup against Northern Colorado on Feb. 4 where they lost 84-73.
 
MSU is led by Claire Lundberg who averages 17.2 points per game which is 89^th nationally and sixth in the Big Sky. She makes 2.45 three-pointers per game on 39.2 percent accuracy, ranking her 86^th and 77^th in the nation, respectively.
 
Oliana Squires is the other Bobcat to average double figures with 10.8 points per game.
 
Montana State averages 65.8 points per game and are shooting 39.5 percent from the field. The Bobcats also favor the long ball, draining 7.3 three-pointers per game which is 85^th nationally.
 
SERIES HISTORY: On Jan. 19, 2019, Eastern Washington topped Montana State in Bozeman in overtime, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Bobcats.
 
Morrow scored a career-high 37 points in the win, which is third all-time in single game program history for the Eagles. She also hit the game-winning three-pointer with seconds left to send the game into overtime. In the overtime period, she added 10 points and scored the winning old-fashioned three-point play to give the Eagles an 89-87 victory after trailing by 14 points to start the fourth quarter.
 
Eastern trailed for most of the game and scored 33 points in the fourth quarter, second all-time for points in a single quarter in EWU history, in the victory. Alissa Sealby added a career-high 18 points and Brittany Klaman added 10 assists.
 
It was the first win in Bozeman since Jan. 31, 2013 as the Bobcats lead the all-time series 41-35. Eastern has won seven out of the last ten matchups and the last three meetings have been decided by three points or less. In Reese Court, the Eagles are an even 18-18 with MSU.
 
A LOOK AT THE GRIZZLIES: Montana is fifth in the conference standings with a 10-9 overall record and a 5-5 mark in league play. The Grizzlies have lost three out of their last five, most recently falling at Montana State on Feb. 2 by a score of 74-52. Montana has played the last three games on the road and will stop at Idaho on Feb. 7 before coming to Cheney to end a five-game road trip.
 
Jace Henderson leads a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Griz with 11.6 points per game. McKenzie Johnson (10.9), Emma Stockholm (10.2) and Gabi Harrington (10.0) round out the list.
 
The Grizzlies score 65.9 points per game and are shooting 41.6 percent from the field with an average of 39.6 rebounds per contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY: January 10^th was a special day for the EWU women's basketball team. Not only did the Eagles top Montana for the fifth-straight game and third-straight in Missoula, Morrow became the 18^th member of Eastern Washington's 1,000-point club midway through the second quarter. She needed seven points to join the club and finished the day with 17 in addition to three others in double figures.
 
The Eagles trail the all-time series 17-64, but have won five-straight over the Griz at Reese Court dating back to Jan. 3, 2013.
 
1,000-POINTS AND COUNTING: After becoming the newest and 18^th member of Eastern Washington's 1,000-point club at Montana on Jan. 10, 2019, Violet Kapri Morrow continues to climb EWU's all-time scoring list.
 
After scoring 21 points at Northern Arizona, Morrow moves into 11th all-time with 1,118 points after beginning the afternoon in 14^th. She is just two points away from moving into a tie for 10^th all-time with Tracy Ford (1997-00) and 33 points away from ninth place.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles hit the road, briefly, for a game at Northern Colorado on Feb. 14 where they will look to avenge an overtime loss to the Bears on Jan. 7.
 
When Eastern Washington returns, it will be for three-straight games, marking the longest home stand of the season. It begins with a President's Day matinee at Reese Court with Idaho at 2:05 p.m., followed by the men's team taking on the Vandals at 4:15 p.m. Additionally, the Eagles host Southern Utah (Feb. 21) and Northern Arizona (Feb. 23) as a part of the home stand. EWU plays five of its last seven regular season games at home.
 
BIG SKY IN BOISE: The 2019 Big Sky Conference Tournament is just over a month away from March 11-15 at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise. For more information, including tickets and the women's bracket, visit the tournament schedule page HERE.