CHENEY, Wash. – For the first time in 270 days, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team was finally in action today (Dec. 5) when they hosted Northern Arizona at Reese Court. The Eagles were led by freshman Aaliyah Alexander who led the way with 18 points, but EWU was topped by the Lumberjacks by a final score of 89-60.
 
Six players made their debuts for the Eagles as they out-rebounded the Lumberjacks 36 to 31, and shot 43.6 percent (24-55) from the field. Northern Arizona had five players score in double figures and went 36-for-70 from the field, shooting 51.4 percent.
 
"We definitely saw some good things from our youngsters today. You could tell in the second half that it was our first game in terms of us being in basketball shape," said head coach Wendy Schuller, who officially kicked off her 20^th season at Eastern Washington today. "We're dealing with a lot of adversity and I have to do a better job with making sure we're in a better condition, no matter the circumstances were in, because that was a big piece to the second half. They pulled away and we didn't guard very well, you could tell they've played a few games."
 
Alexander scored seven of her 18 points in the first quarter, helping the Eagles shoot 42.9 percent to trail by just three after the first 10 minutes, 18-15.
 
The Eagles found themselves down 40-30 with 3:13 left in the half when they started to find their groove. A Kallie Schaplow three-pointer sparked a 7-0 run that put EWU back within three points, 40-37, with under two minutes to play. Eastern Washington went five-for-five on their last five field goal attempts, but trailed Northern Arizona by five points, 46-41, at the half. The second quarter saw the Eagles shoot 73.3 percent and were 11-of-15 from the field.
 
It was all Northern Arizona during the second half of play. The Lumberjacks used a large 17-2 run over 6:06 over the third quarter to take a 65-47 lead into the fourth. The Eagles were held to just 4-of-12 from the field in the fourth quarter and were outscored 24 to 13 as the Lumberjacks earned the 89-60 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: This afternoon's contest marked the Big Sky, home and season opener for the Eagles who fall to 0-1 after the loss. Northern Arizona played its third contest today and are now 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference action. The Eagles have now lost three-straight to Northern Arizona.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Freshman Aaliyah Alexander led all players with 18 points in her first collegiate game. She went 7-for-10 from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line. She also led the team with five assists, four steals and added a block.
 
Jenna Dick scored nine points to go with three assists, while Alexyss Newman also scored nine points.
 
Both Kennedy Dickie and Milly Knowles crashed the boards, finishing with nine rebounds apiece to lead the team. Dickie also added eight points and two assists.
 
Núria Cunill, also making her freshman debut, led the Eagles with two blocks and scored five points.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles out-rebounded the Lumberjacks, 36 to 31. The Lumberjacks, however, forced 25 EWU turnovers and turned them in to 29 points while only committing eight themselves.
 
Northern Arizona shot 51.4 percent from the field, making 36 of their 70 field goal attempts. They were also 5-for-14 from three-point range, and only missed one free throw, going 12-for-13.
 
Eastern Washington shot 43.6 percent from the field, making 24-of-55 of their field goal attempts. They made three three-pointers and were 9-for-12 from the charity stripe.
 
UP NEXT: It's a quick turnaround for both squads, as they face off again tomorrow (Dec. 6) at Reese Court for another noon tip. The game will be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 1053 with live stats available at EWUStats.com
 
MORE FROM COACH SCHULLER:
 
On Aaliyah Alexander's Performance: "I was really pleased that Aaliyah Alexander came out aggressively offensively. We see that all the time in practice from her. She's a special player, she's one of those kids that I love to coach. She works her tail off every day at practice, is totally bought in and is very, very talented. I hope Eagle Nation saw what we've seen from the get go, that Aaliyah is going to have a fabulous career."
 
On Improvements to Make for Tomorrow's Game: "Number one, we have to be able to defend in transition. That is NAU's thing, they really want to push the ball and make you compress offensively. We didn't protect the paint at all and they beat us down the court several times. I think that's deflating. When adversity strikes, we have to respond to it better. In the second half, our execution broke down offensively. I don't know if that has to do with legs and being tired or what it was, but we have to be better execution wise. We got our tails whipped today, so we can be better in a lot of ways."
 
On Finally Playing a Game: "It was a great feeling to be out here today and to be able to play together in a time where weren't sure what it was going to look like. We weren't even sure if this week was going to happen, and NAU was extremely flexible. It's one of those seasons. Everyone is dealing with it, it's not just us, so we have to handle it. The behind the scenes work that's being done by everybody – at Eastern Washington, the Big Sky, the NCAA and the county to get us on the floor playing is unbelievable. I wish people knew what it looks like. I'm extremely thankful to have people fight for us, so we have to play better, we have to play better for all of those people."