BOISE, Idaho – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team battled until the end, but its 2019-20 season came to a close today (March 9) in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference Championships behind the hands of Portland State, 83-70.
 
Four scored in double figures, led by a career-high 20 points from freshman Kennedy Dickie. Grace Kirscher (17), Bella Cravens (14) and Jenna Dick (12), also scored in double figures, while Cravens and Dickie finished with seven rebounds each.
 
The Eagles made 11 three-pointers and only committed six turnovers to Portland State's 14.
 
"Portland State deserves a lot of credit, they really shot the ball well today and had a good game plan. Desirae Hansen played really well and shot the ball well today. I was proud of our team and for our fight, we struggled the first quarter and just came out tight. As the game got going, we loosened up and got things going offensively," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "It's tough, we're asking a lot of kids to play a lot of minutes to be able to keep their intensity and focus on the defensive end while you're running the floor trying to make things happen. We just came up short."
 
Portland State found its momentum first, using an 8-0 run to take an early 8-2 lead. Another 6-0 run from the Vikings late in the quarter gave them a 25-14 lead after the end of the high-scoring opening period. Eastern Washington was solid from the field, shooting 50 percent overall behind eight points from Grace Kirscher.
 
The Eagles got off to a slow start in the second quarter, as they didn't make a field goal until the 6:18 mark as Portland State built a 35-15 lead. Eastern Washington then used six-straight points to cut their deficit to 41-28 and forced a PSU timeout. The run grew to 9-0 after the timeout and the Eagles were able to come within 10 points and trailed Portland State 42-31 at the half. Kennedy Dickie exploded for eight points during the quarter, giving herself 10 heading in to the locker room.
 
Both teams traded baskets early, until Portland State used an 8-0 run to pull ahead 55-35 for their largest lead of the day. That's when Kirscher got things going, responding with a 7-0 run of her own to cut into the Viking lead, 55-42. The run sparked a 15-2 Eastern Washington run over 3:53 to put the Eagles back within single digits, 57-50. Eastern Washington shot 52.6 percent from the field (10-19), outscoring the Vikings 23-19, to trail just 61-54 heading into the final quarter.
 
With 6:34 on the clock and down 66-58, Dickie made a three-pointer to put the Eagles within five points, 66-61. Portland State's lead stretched back out to 10 with 4:32 left, but Dickie was there again, draining another three-pointer to make it a 73-68 score with 3:41 left in favor of the Vikings. But that would wind up being the final field goal of the contest for Eastern Washington, as PSU outscored EWU 12-2 in the final minutes en route to the 83-70 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington ends the 2019-20 season with a 4-26 overall record. Portland State improves to 16-15 and moves on to play No. 2 Idaho tomorrow afternoon.
 
This is the third-straight season that the Vikings have ended Eastern's seasons at the championships, including last year's title game.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Kennedy Dickie tied her career-high 20 points, going 8-for-19 from the field for 3-for-7 from three-point range. She also led the team with seven rebounds and added a block.
 
Grace Kirscher played all 40 minutes and provided 17 points. She was 6-of-11 from the field, 3-for-8 from three-point range and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. The sophomore had a career-high five assists, a steal and a block.
 
Bella Cravens scored 14 points, going 6-for-15 from the field. She also had seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
 
Jenna Dick rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points, all coming from three-point range where she was 4-for-7 from behind the arc. The freshman also had two rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Dick finishes with 70 three-pointers during her freshman year, which is tied for fourth in EWU history for three-pointers during a single season.
 
Jessica McDowell-White led the team with six assists.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington shot 40 (26-65) percent from the field, 38 percent from three-point range (11-29) and 54 percent from the free throw line (7-13).
 
Portland State shot 47 percent overall (29-62), 46 percent from behind the arc (11-24), and 88 percent from the charity stripe (14-16).
 
Eastern Washington forced 14 Portland State turnovers, turning them in to 17 points while only committing six themselves. The Eagles were outrebounded, 45-to-30.