A pair of Eastern Washington University basketball players – freshman Grace Kirscher and senior Jesse Hunt -- have been honored as the February Scholar-Athletes of the Month as selected by the EWU athletic department.
 
Kirscher is from nearby Sandpoint (Idaho) High School and has a 3.69 grade point average as an elementary education major. Hunt is from Geraldton, Australia, and played high school basketball at Sir Francis Drake High School in California. He is a senior with a 3.57 GPA while majoring in business management.
 
In leading Eastern to a 6-2 record in the month, Kirscher averaged 11.3 points, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.6 rebounds in February while shooting 41.0 percent from the field. She scored in double figures in five out of eight games, including a streak of four double-digit games in a row.
 
The freshman made 35.4 percent (17-48) of her three-point attempts during the month and had four games with at least three three-pointers. She is third on the team in three-point field goal percentage, making 35.5 percent of her shots from deep and has made at least three three-pointers in 10 games this season. Earlier this season, she was a perfect 6-for-6 from three-point range which ties for seventh in school history for three-pointers in a single game.
 
She was also 5-for-7 from the free throw line during the month and dished a career-high four assists at Northern Colorado on Feb. 14. Kirscher has started 19 games and averages 28.5 minutes per contest.
 
Currently, Kirscher is second on the team with 10.7 points per game and has led the Eagles in scoring in six games this season. She has scored in double figures in 14 out of 26 games this year and has a pair of 20-plus point performances, including a career-high 22 points at Southern Utah on Jan. 31. Kirscher has 277 career points which is sixth all-time for a freshman in school history and has 44 career three-pointers which is tied for second.
 
Hunt is one of three Eastern players who will be honored on "Senior Day" before EWU's final regular season home game of the season versus Portland State on Saturday (March 2) at 2 p.m. at Reese Court.
 
In February, Hunt averaged 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game while leading EWU to a record of 5-4 in the month. He made 51.8 percent of his shots overall, 44.4 percent of his 3-point shots and 86.1 percent from the free throw line.
 
Earlier this week, Hunt was the College Sports Madness Big Sky Conference Player of the Week in helping EWU to a weekend split and fourth-place tie in the league standings. He had his ninth double-double of the season with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a win at Northern Arizona, and one game earlier he had 19 points, nine rebounds, an assist and three blocked shots versus Southern Utah.
 
He has had had five 20-point outings this season, with nine double-doubles to give him 11 in his career. He's had at least five assists in five of his last 10 games. In January he was selected to the HoopsHD.com mid-season All-Big Sky team after leading the Eagles in scoring and rebounding during the preseason.
 
He is currently averaging 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists on the season. He is second in the Big Sky in rebounding, 10th in scoring and eighth in assists. Hunt has shooting percentages of 49.1 percent overall (ninth in the Big Sky), 46.0 percent from 3-point range (hird; 46-of-100) and 73.9 percent from the free throw line.
In league play he has averages of 13.6 points (13th), 8.9 rebounds (third) and 3.4 assists (ninth) in 16 games. In league games only, he is third in the Big Sky in 3-point accuracy (48.2 percent; 27-of-56) and has made 80.3 percent of his free throws (53-of-66) to rank 10th. He has had 29 career double-figure scoring performances in his career to go along with 14 with 10 or more rebounds.
 
Hunt had a 21-point outing in an 88-78 overtime win over Northern Colorado ion Feb. 16 in which he also had seven rebounds and six assists. On Feb. 9 at Montana he finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and two games earlier in a win over Northern Arizona on Feb. 4 he finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
 
Hunt has played in 111 career games with 45 starts, and has averages of 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

  

2018-19 EWU Athletics Scholar-Athletes of the Month

September – Alexa Clark (golf), Gage Gubrud (football)
October – Jenny Chavez (soccer), Roldan Alcobendas (football)
November – Kahle Elliott (volleyball), Mitch Fettig (football)
December – Alissa Sealby (basketball), Sam McPherson (football)
January – Violet Kapri Morrow (basketball), Mason Peatling (basketball)
February – Grace Kirscher (basketball), Jesse Hunt (basketball)