CHENEY, Wash. – For the second-straight game, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team played host to Northern Arizona today (Dec. 6), falling by a score of 69-55 inside Reese Court.
 
The Eagles had two in double figures, led by freshman Aaliyah Alexander for the second-straight game with 16 points and eight rebounds. Alexyss Newman added 13 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. The Eagles also out-rebounded the Lumberjacks for the second-straight game, 44 to 38.
 
"I was a lot more pleased with our effort today. I thought we made some adjustments, and for such a young team, they did a good job absorbing things and making changes. There were moments where our offensive execution was where it needed to be, but there were still a lot of moments where it wasn't," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "We're a really young basketball team, but I thought we played hard today. If we can play that hard every single time, we're going to get better at the basketball things we're trying to do. Effort has to be something that's brough every game, and I thought we did that much better today."
 
Northern Arizona held a 23-10 lead after the first quarter. Down 39-22 with 2:42 remaining in the half, Eastern Washington used a 6-0 run to help cut the deficit to 39-28. Four of the points during the run came from the free throw line, as the Eagles went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe in the second quarter. At the end of the half, EWU trailed the Lumberjacks, 41-28.
 
Eastern Washington put on a strong defensive effort to start the second-half, holding the Lumberjacks without a field goal until the 5:49 mark. NAU was held to just nine points in the third frame, going 2-for-15 (13.3%) from the field. An Alexander layup with 28 seconds to go helped the Eagles trail by just nine points, 50-41, going into the fourth.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles got within seven points after Kennedy Dickie sunk a three-pointer early in the frame after EWU scored four unanswered points. Eastern Washington held Northern Arizona without a field goal for the final 4:11 of the game, but they were unable to capitalize offensively during that time and fell by a final score of 69-55.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops to 0-2 overall after their first two Big Sky Conference matchups with the Lumberjacks. Northern Arizona improves to 3-1 and an unblemished 2-0 conference mark.
 
TOP-PERFORMANCES: After scoring 18 points in yesterday's contest, Aaliyah Alexander led the way with 16 points today while grabbing eight rebounds.
 
Alexyss Newman finished with 13 points, going 5-for-8 from the field and also led the team in rebounds with nine. The sophomore also added two steals and a block.
 
Grace Kirscher scored nine points and led the way with three steals and grabbed five boards. Kennedy Dickie rounded out the scoring with eight points, while also leading the team with three assists and contributed with five rebounds. Jenna Dick had seven points, two assists and a steal.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington out-rebounded Northern Arizona, 44 to 38, for the second-straight game. The Eagles also outscored the Lumberjacks in the paint, 30 points to 26, and had 14 second-chance points to NAU's six.
 
Turnovers troubled the Eagles again, as they committed 22 which led to 13 Northern Arizona points. Eastern Washington forced 13 turnovers off of eight steals, and turned them in to 12 points.
 
Both teams shot under 40 percent for the game. Northern Arizona was 25-for-65 from the field (38.5%) and Eastern Washington was 18-for-57 (31.6%). The Eagles were 17-for-20 from the charity stripe, but only made two three-pointers to NAU's nine.
 
UP NEXT: The first road game and non-conference game of the season for Eastern Washington takes place on Thursday, Dec. 10 at Boise State. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. Pacific time.
 
MORE FROM COACH SCHULLER:
 
On Moving on from Yesterday's Loss: "As coaches, it's hard because you want to lament over all of the things that weren't good. We tried to show them the things to get better at while being encouraging at the same time. I just think we have a great group. We have winners and young ladies who are willing to put in time and work hard. I know we are going to be just fine at the end of the day just because of the character of these individuals. I'm luck to coach them."
 
On Alexyss Newman's Performance and Early-Season Play: "It was good to see Alexyss being Alexyss. Yesterday, I don't think she was herself. Again, she had a lot of time off last season with some injuries. She's trying to get back into the groove, as with a lot of our returners. Each one has had different injuries that have hindered them early on, so we're playing catchup. I know how talented all of these young ladies are and I'm excited for when we finally start clicking."