GAME NOTES
CHENEY, Wash. – For the first time in 2020 and in Big Sky Conference play, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team will hit the road. The Eagles travel to Portland, Ore., to face Portland State on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. inside the Viking Pavilion. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since EWU fell to the Vikings by two points in the 2019 Big Sky title game.
The game will be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 532 and on WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at EWUStats.com.
The Eagles are coming off of the opening weekend of Big Sky Conference play with a win at home over Weber State (Dec. 28) and a loss to Idaho State (Dec. 30). The results moved them to 2-9 overall and 1-1 in conference action. Portland State, who hosts Idaho on Thursday evening before the Eagles, are 6-6 overall with 0-2 in Big Sky play after losing to Northern Colorado and Southern Utah on the road.
Bella Cravens leads the Big Sky Conference and the team with 8.6 rebounds per game, which ranks her 81
st nationally. She also ranks third in the league with 1.64 blocks per game, totaling 18 on the season to rank 82
nd in the nation. She is also second on the team with 8.8 points per game.
Jessica McDowell-White leads the Eagles with 8.9 points per game. She ranks fourth in the Big Sky with 2.09 three-pointers per game, knocking down 23 on the season. She also ranks 95
th nationally and fourth in the conference with 4.4 assists per contest while adding 1.5 steals per game to rank 10
th in the BSC.
Grace Kirscher (8.7) and
Kennedy Dickie (8.0) also average over eight points a game.
As a team, the Eagles are averaging 53.7 points per game. They rank fifth in the conference in blocked shots with 3.5 and they knock down 7.3 three-pointers per game which is 76
th nationally and third in the Big Sky.
The Vikings finished the preseason 6-4 overall, and like the Eagles they also lost to Boise State and Kansas City during non-conference play. PSU was picked to finish third in both preseason polls and are the conference's top scoring offense, putting up 72.4 points per game. They are also a threat from behind the arc, knocking down 37.8 percent of their attempts.
Portland State has three players who average double figures in Desirae Hanson (13.6), Tatiana Streun (13.1) and Kyle Jimenez (12.2). All three rank in the top-15 in the Big Sky in points per game. Streun is also second in the conference with 8.4 rebounds per games while Jimenez leads the BSC with 2.7 steals per game. The Vikings also boast the conference leader in blocks in Jordan Stotler who averages 2.4 swats per contest.
Eastern Washington will look to snap a four-game losing streak to the Vikings on Saturday. After being knocked out of the quarterfinals by PSU at the 2018 Big Sky Conference tournament, the Eagles lost both regular season meetings last year and then suffered a heart-breaking, 61-59, loss with four seconds remaining in the Big Sky title game on March 15, 2019 in Boise.
The No. 6 Eagles led for over 29 minutes of the contest and led by seven with 5:35 to go in the fourth, but the No. 4 Vikings went on a 9-0 run to take a lead with less than two minutes left.
Jessica McDowell-White tied the game up with 20 seconds remaining before Desirae Hansen hit the game-winning shot with four seconds on the clock to send the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the losing streak, Eastern Washington leads the all-time series over PSU, 35-29. The Eagles have won four out of the last 10 meetings and are 12-18 all-time on the road against the Vikings. A win would be the first for the Eagles since Feb. 3, 2018 and EWU has also not won on the road since Feb. 4, 2017.
After Saturday's game, Eastern Washington will prep for a road trip to Missoula where they look to extend a six-game winning streak over the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
Eastern Washington won't return home until Saturday, Jan. 18 when they host Montana State at 2 p.m. That game is the lone home contest in January for the Eagles, but they are home for seven games in February. For tickets, visiting GoEags.com/tickets.
