SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Once down by 19 points, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team completed a comeback victory over Sacramento State on Thursday evening (Feb. 20) by a final score of 78-73 in Sacramento for their second-straight win.
 
The Eagles trailed 46-28 at the half after being outscored 34-15 in the second quarter. After chipping away at their deficit during the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets 16-13, the Eagles still trailed 59-44 heading into the final frame.
 
Eastern Washington did not attempt a free throw until the fourth quarter after Tatiana Reese completed a three-point play to open the final 10 minutes of play. The Eagles were a solid 11-for-14 from the line during the fourth, while the Hornets were just 6-for-14 for the entirety of the game.
 
The Eagles outscored the Hornets 30-10 during the fourth quarter and held the Hornets to just 25 points during the second half. On the night, Eastern Washington out-shot Sacramento State 54 percent (28-52) to 43 percent (29-67), making 11 three-pointers to SAC's nine.
 
Eastern had four in double figures, led by Bella Cravens who had 17 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. She was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free throw line. Jenna Dick followed with 16 points and five three-pointers. Grace Kirscher also added 16 points with four triples, while Kennedy Dickie added 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
"I'm really happy for our team. It's been fun these last couple weeks to see our growth when it comes to fighting back in adverse situations," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "It was definitely a fun second half. Bella really got us going inside and that opened things up for us on the perimeter. It's exciting to see four players in double digit scoring. It indicates we really shared the basketball. Overall, it's just great to see us find a way to win and play with that fire."
 
In a low scoring first quarter, the Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead that stretched to 7-2. After a long scoreless spell by both teams, Sacramento State pulled within a point, 10-9. Leya DePriest then scored four-straight points to help the Eagles lead 13-12 at the end of the first.
 
Unlike the first quarter, both teams exploded offensively to start the second as Sacramento State outscored the Eagles 14-7 in less than three minutes. From there, they held Eastern scoreless for over four minutes of play until a Kirscher three-pointer snapped a 15-0 run. Another 7-0 run by the Hornets gave them a 42-23 lead. Despite 11 points from Kirscher in the second quarter, nine of which came from three-point range, the Eagles trailed 46-28 at the half.
 
The Eagles came out in the third quarter and outscored the Hornets 16-13 on 50 percent shooting from the field. Cravens scored 10 points while Dick added the other six during the frame as the Eagles headed into the fourth down 59-44.
 
It only took Eastern Washington four minutes to cut its deficit from 15 points to five in the fourth quarter, going a perfect 8-for-8 before missing a shot. After Reese got the offense going with a three-point play, another Kirscher three-pointer made it a 10-point game, 63-53. With 6:06 remaining, Kennedy Dickie made it a five-point game and forced a Sacramento State timeout.
 
Jessica McDowell-White nailed a three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run to make it a one-point game. With 1:59 remaining, Dick made a three-pointer to give Eastern a 69-67 lead and the Eagles never looked back.
 
Sacramento State got as close as three points with 11 seconds remaining, but both Reese and Kirscher made their final free throw attempts to help the Eagles hold on for the 78-73 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: After losing 12-straight games, the Eagles have won two-straight games for the first time all season, improving to 4-20 overall and 3-12 in Big Sky Conference play. Sacramento State drops to 8-17 and 6-10. The win also marks Eastern's first road victory of the season.
 
The Hornets and Eagles split the series meetings. Sacramento State also completed a 19-point comeback in Cheney back on Feb. 1 to beat the Eagles.
 
Eastern has now won five-straight games in Sacramento.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Bella Cravens led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds on a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free throw line. She also led the team with two blocks and added a steal.
 
Jenna Dick was 5-for-8 from the field, all coming from three-point range. She was 1-for-2 from the line to total 16 points on the night.
 
Grace Kirscher also added 16 points on 5-for-11 from the field with four three-pointers and a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. She also totaled three assists and led the team with three steals.
 
Kennedy Dickie was the final player in double figures, adding 10 points and also leading the way with seven rebounds.
 
Jessica McDowell-White led the team with six assists and three steals while Tatiana Reese scored a career-high eight points.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Although narrowly out-rebounded 36 to 33, the Eagles shot 54 percent from the field (28-52) to Sacramento State's 43 percent (29-67).
 
The difference came from the free throw line, where the Eagles were 11-for-14, all coming in the fourth quarter, and the Hornets were just 6-for-14. EWU was 11-for-26 from three-point range and the Hornets were 9-for-28.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington's second-to-last regular season road trip continues on Saturday, Feb. 22 at Northern Arizona. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. Pacific time in Flagstaff, Ariz.