MOSCOW, Idaho – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team made the short trek to take on the Idaho Vandals on Thursday evening (Jan. 16). The Eagles hung with the Vandals for the three quarters, trailing only by two going into the fourth. However, a scoring lull in the final quarter gave Idaho the advantage as EWU fell 69-60.
 
Kennedy Dickie led the Eagles with a career-high 18 points. Grace Kirscher followed with 16 and Alexyss Newman added 13 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles drained 10 three-pointers on the night and outshot Idaho, 45.1 percent to 39.3 percent from the field.
 
"That was a tough loss tonight. I was really proud of our effort. I thought we did a lot of things well, but we really struggled to score in the fourth quarter. That along with our inability to rebound on the defensive end was the difference," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "It was nice to finally have our core group back playing together and we showed that we are ready to make a jump. There is a lot of season left and we will continue to work to get to where we need to be."
 
After falling behind 3-0, Eastern used a 7-0 run to take the lead. The Vandals then responded with a 10-0 run and worked their way to a 16-10 lead at the end of the first.
 
Eastern Washington went 3-for-3 from three-point range to open the second quarter. Dickie's triple cut the deficit to just three, 24-21. Bella Cravens then hit a jumper to give the Eagles their lead back, 25-24. In all, the Eagles used a 10-0 run to lead 27-24, five of those points came from Alexyss Newman.
 
Idaho didn't take long to respond, using an 11-3 run to lead 35-31 at the half. Eastern Washington shot 66.7 percent (8-12) to Idaho's 37.5 percent (6-16) and outscored the Vandals 21-19.
 
The two sides went back and forth during the third and Eastern Washington would fall behind by 10 points, 43-33, early but the deficit was short lived as the Eagles continued to chip away. A quick 4-0 run by Jenna Dick put the Eagles within three, 48-45.
 
Dickie would add 10 points during the third quarter alone to help the Eagles trail by just two, 53-51, with a quarter to go. Eastern Washington shot 61.5 percent (8-13) during the third quarter and held the Vandals to just 37.5 percent (6-16).
 
In the fourth quarter, 6:42 passed without an Eastern Washington point while the Vandals used a 14-0 run to pull ahead 69-55. The Eagles would close the game on a 5-0 run, but the spark came too late as the Eagles fell 69-60.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: The Eagles fall to 2-12 on the season and 1-4 in Big Sky play while Idaho improves to 9-5 and 4-1.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Kennedy Dickie led the way with a career-high 18 points. She shot 50 percent (7-14) from the field and was 3-for-5 from behind the arc.
 
Grace Kirscher followed with 16 points, her third-straight game in double digits. She was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.
 
Alexyss Newman totaled 13 points while leading the team with nine rebounds.
 
Leya DePriest led the team with two blocks, while Jessica McDowell-White dished six assists and three steals.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Both sides put on a show behind the arc, combining for 23 three pointers. The Eagles were 10-for-19 (52.6%) and the Vandals were 13-for-38 (34.2%).
 
Eastern Washington was 23-for-51 from the field (45.1) and held the Vandals to 39.3 percent (24-61).
 
The Eagles were outrebounded, 27-to-42, and the Vandals had 16 second chance points while EWU had just five. Both sides were fairly even in the paint, as Idaho scored 20 points to Eastern's 18.
 
UP NEXT: The lone home game for the Eagles in January takes place this Saturday, Jan. 18, when Eastern Washington welcomes the conference leaders Montana State to town for a 2:05 p.m. tip. Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets.