BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team made the trek to Bozeman, Mont., to take on Montana State this afternoon (Feb. 8) where they suffered a 79-47 loss.
 
Eastern Washington led 16-14 at the end of the first, but were outscored 27-6 in the second quarter.
 
In just 20 minutes of play, Bella Cravens led all scorers with a career-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. Grace Kirscher was the other Eagle in double figures with 10 points.
 
"Another tough loss on the road. We came out strong but then really struggled to shoot the ball in the second quarter, and we got down after that," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "Bella Cravens gave us a nice boost early and it hurt when she went down as well. Montana State is a really good senior laden basketball team and you can't have off nights or off quarters against a team like that."
 
The Eagles came out firing and used a 7-0 run to build a 9-3 lead. Montana State responded with a 5-0 run of their own to cut their deficit to a point. From there, the teams exchanged buckets as the game locked up in 14-14 tie. Jenna Dick broke the tie with a jumper to give Eastern a 16-14 advantage at the end of the first. EWU forced eight turnovers and shot 53.8 percent from the field during the opening quarter.
 
Montana State found its footing during the second quarter, using a 21-4 run to lead 35-20. Both Milly Knowles and Grace Kirscher went 2-for-2 from the free throw line during that stretch, but Eastern was held without a field goal until the 3:05 mark. Cailyn Francis scored the much-needed bucket, but the Bobcats closed the quarter on another 6-0 run to lead 41-22 at the half.
 
It was all Bobcats once again during the third quarter as they pulled ahead 49-23 and didn't allow the Eagles to score a field goal until there was 5:59 left on the clock. It was Cravens who snapped the lull, and then scored six-straight unanswered points. Cravens would score 11 total during the third frame as the Eagles shot 71.4 to MSU's 35 percent, but trailed 58-36 heading into the fourth.
 
The Eagle defense held Montana State without a field goal for nearly three minutes during the fourth quarter, but had a three-minute scoring lull of themselves. Montana State used a 9-0 run during the fourth to put the Eagles away, claiming the 79-47 decision.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops to 2-19 overall and 1-11 in conference play. Montana State wins its seventh-straight and sweeps the season meetings, improving to 15-6 and 11-1.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Bella Cravens led all players with a career-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 from the free throw line to go with an assist and a block.
 
Grace Kirscher followed with 10 points and led the team with four steals. Jessica-McDowell-White paced the Eagles with three assists while Tatiana Reese had two. Kennedy Dickie also had five rebounds to lead the team.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles, who rank 20^th in the nation in three-pointers per game, were held to a season low three while Montana State made 11.
 
Eastern Washington shot 36.2 percent on the afternoon (17-47) and were 10-for-16 from the free throw line. The Bobcats shot 45.2 percent (28-62) from the field and were 12-for-18 from the charity stripe.
 
Eastern Washington was out-rebounded 43-to-28. Turnovers hurt both teams, as the Eagles committed 20 and MSU had 14.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington returns home for a pair of games next week. On Thursday, Feb. 13, the Eagles host Idaho at 5:35 p.m., with the Vandal and Eagle men to follow at approximately 7:45 p.m.
 
On Saturday, Feb. 15, Eastern Washington takes on Portland State at 2:05 p.m. Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets.