PORTLAND, Ore. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team could not overcome an early scoring lull and fell to Portland State on the road today (Jan. 4) by a score of 75-58.
 
The Eagles had three in double figures, led by Grace Kirscher's career-high 22 points. Alexyss Newman added 13 and collected the first double-double of her career with 11 rebounds. Jenna Dick rounded out the scoring with 11 points.

"I was extremely proud of our effort today. We are a bit shorthanded and players had to play extended minutes," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "I thought we played extremely hard and kept fighting the entire game."
 
After Portland State opened the game on a 5-0 run, the Eagles responded with a 6-0 run of their own following back-to-back three pointers from Jenna Dick and Grace Kirscher. Those would be the last field goals of the quarter for the Eagles however, as the Vikings cruised on a 13-2 run to lead 18-8 after the first quarter.
 
PSU picked up where they left off and began the second quarter on a 12-0 run. The Eagles didn't score until the 3:43 mark when Jessica McDowell-White fed Leya DePriest a pass down low for the layup. From there, Eastern Washington heated up and outscored the Vikings 10-7 down the stretch, including six unanswered points. At the end of two quarters, Eastern Washington trailed 37-18 behind Kirscher's 10 first half points.
 
Both sides were even with 17 points each during the third quarter. The Eagles came out firing as McDowell-White and Dick made back-to-back threes, only to have the Vikings answer as their lead grew to 20 points. Kirscher would end the quarter with three three-pointers, scoring nine of her 22 points. At the end of the third, Eastern Washington trailed 54-35.
 
The Eagles shot off seven unanswered points to open the final quarter. Dick hit her third triple of the day to force a Portland State timeout as the lead was cut to 57-44. Alexyss Newman came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring all of her 13 points to help Eastern outscore the Vikings 23-21. The Eagles also ended the quarter making four of their final five field goal attempts, but the late surge was not enough, as Eastern Washington fell on the road by a final score of 75-58.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: The Eagles fall to 2-10 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play while Portland State improves to 8-6 and 2-2. Eastern Washington has now lost five-straight to the Vikings, but still lead the all-time series 35-30.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Grace Kirscher led all scorers with 22 points, tying a career-high. The sophomore made six three-pointers, also tying a career-high, and pulled down a career-best eight rebounds.
 
Alexyss Newman scored in double figures for the second-straight game, this time with 13. She also led the team with a career-high 11 rebounds for the first double-double of her young career. The freshman also led the team with three steals.
 
Jenna Dick added 11 points and scored three three-pointers to go with four assists.
 
Leya DePriest dished out a career-best five assists. Jessica McDowell-White also added five.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington shot just 28.9 percent from the field (22-76) but made 11 three-pointers.
 
Portland State shot 42.4 percent from the field (25-59) and drained 13 three-pointers. PSU was 12-for-14 from the free throw line while Eastern was only 3-6.
 
Eastern Washington was able to get the edge in rebounds, 46 to 44. Each team was even with 19 assists. The Eagles also had an impressive season low of six turnovers and forced 10.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington now preps 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.