GAME NOTES
CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team will end 2020 and ring in the New Year with a pair of games at Portland State this week. The Eagles take on the Vikings on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2 at the Viking Pavilion in Portland, Ore., with tip-offs set for 6 p.m. and 12 p.m., respectively. Both games will be broadcast live on Pluto TV Ch. 1051.
Eastern Washington (1-6, 0-2) is resuming Big Sky play after two losses to Northern Arizona to start the season on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 at Reese Court. It could not be more opposite for the Vikings, who had six of their first seven games canceled due to various COVID-19 related issues. Thursday marks just the third game this season for Portland State (1-1), who opened the year with a win over Dixie State on Dec. 16 and a loss to Air Force on Dec. 28, both on the road.
The Eagles were last in action on Dec. 22 at Washington State where they fell by a final score of 73-52. Freshman
Maisie Burnham led all scorers with a career-high 16 points in just her second career start while adding eight rebounds. Sophomore
Kennedy Dickie scored in double figures for the fifth-straight game with 10 points, while
Grace Kirscher also added 10.
Kirscher has a chance to etch her name in the Eastern Washington all-time career record book this weekend. The junior has made 116 career three-pointers and is just five away from tying for 10
th all-time in EWU history with 121.
Eastern Washington likes to shoot the long ball, as they are 50
th in the nation and first in the conference with 49 made three-pointers this season. The Eagles average 7.0 a game which is 90
th. They also rank in the top-100 nationally in free throw percentage (73.4%) and total steals with 59.
Freshman
Aaliyah Alexander leads the Eagles with 12.9 points per game, followed by Dickie who adds 12.7.
Jenna Dick follows with 9.9.
Portland State opened its season with a 63-53 win over Dixie State with just seven official practices under its belt and then had its next two games at Weber State canceled due to COVID-19 related issues in the Wildcat program. They resumed play yesterday (Dec. 28) with a 94-65 loss at Air Force.
The Vikings have two who average double figures in Desirae Hansen (17.0) and Tatiana Streun (14.5). The duo also adds 7.5 and 9.5 rebounds per game, respectively. So far this season, PSU averages 64.0 points per game.
Last season, the two teams split the regular season meetings when they each picked up a win on their own home floor. Eastern lost to the Vikings 75-58 on Jan. 4, only to
bounce back and win 79-75 on Feb. 15 in Cheney. Portland State got the final say however, ending Eastern's season for the third-straight year at the Big Sky Tournament on March 9, winning 83-70 in the first round despite a career-high 20 points from Dickie.
The Eagles have lost three-straight games in Portland and are looking for their first win since Feb. 4, 2017. The Vikings have won seven out of the last 10 overall meetings, including five-straight from March 7, 2018 to Feb. 15, 2020.
The Big Sky Conference has adopted a new format this season, with each team playing the same opponent twice at the same venue with one-day in between to limit travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Eastern Washington will split between home and away with both Idaho and Montana later in the season.
Eastern Washington is back at home on Jan. 7 and Jan. 9 to host Weber State.
