GAME NOTES
CHENEY, Wash. – Two in-state foes will clash on Saturday (Dec. 19) at Reese Court when the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team hosts Seattle U in its third game in six days. Tip-off between the Eagles and Redhawks is set for 2:05 p.m. on Pluto TV Ch. 1053.
The Eagles (1-4, 0-2) are coming off a 59-46 victory over The College of Idaho yesterday (Dec. 17). Three Eagles scored in double figures, led by
Kennedy Dickie (19 pts),
Jenna Dick (17 pts) and
Aaliyah Alexander (10 pts).
Maisie Burnham had nine points and led the way with 10 rebounds. It was a rough start for the Eagles, but they bounced back and outscored the Yotes 20-6 in the second quarter to take a lead into the half. A 17-0 run in the fourth quarter helped Eastern Washington secure its first victory of the season.
Seattle University comes to Cheney with a 2-4 overall record, with their two wins coming against Utah State and Northwest. Most recently, the Redhawks fell to Big Sky foe Montana by a score of 61-55 in Seattle on Tuesday.
The Redhawks average 70.8 points and 39.5 rebounds per game. Seattle is led offensively by McKenzi Williams (15.0 ppg) and Bree Calhoun (10.5 ppg). Calhoun is sixth in the nation in total assists with 32 and 34
th in assists per game, averaging 5.3 a contest.
As a team, Seattle ranks 21
st in the nation with 61 total steals as they average 10.2 per game to rank 64
th. Just like Eastern Washington, they like to shoot from three-point range, averaging 6.0 per game with 36 total – which ranks in the top-100 nationally. The Redhawks are the second WAC opponent to play EWU this week, and they will head to play their third-straight Big Sky opponent in Idaho on Dec. 21 in Moscow.
The Eagles are also in the top-100 in several three-point categories. They have made 35 total which ranks 86
th and average 7.0 per game to rank 89
th. Eastern Washington has also been solid at the free throw line, draining 76.6 percent of their shots which is the 41
st-best percentage across all of Division I.
EWU is averaging 63.2 points and 37.6 rebounds per game, winning the rebound battle in four out of five contests so far this year. Freshman
Aaliyah Alexander leads the Eagles in both points (13.4) and steals (1.8) per game. Three other Eagles average double figures in
Kennedy Dickie (12.4),
Jenna Dick (11.6) and
Alexyss Newman (11.0).
Newman, along with freshman
Maisie Burnham, lead the team with 6.3 boards per game while Dickie adds 6.0. Dick is averaging two three-pointers per contest on 40.0 percent accuracy behind the arc.
Although they both are located in the state of Washington, Eastern Washington and Seattle have met just twice before in consecutive years, and not since 2011. Each team has picked up a win on their own home floor, as EWU beat the Redhawks by a score of 67-50 at Reese Court on Feb. 3, 2010, but lost in Seattle the following year on Feb. 8, 2011 by a score of 74-53.
Saturday's contest marks the final non-conference matchup at home for the Eagles. On Tuesday, Dec. 22, they'll head to Pullman, Wash., to take on Pac-12 member Washington State to close out the non-conference slate. Big Sky Conference play resumes on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2 at Portland State.
