CHENEY, Wash. – After 12 days with no competition, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team played host to Northern Colorado tonight (Jan. 21) at Reese Court.
 
The Bears opened the game on a 13-0 run and the Eagles clawed back to eventually take a lead in the fourth quarter, but their comeback came up just short – falling 58-55.
 
Grace Kirscher led the way with 19 points while Maisie Burnham added 15 points and nine rebounds.
 
"That one stings. It's difficult when you give away a quarter. I'm not sure if it was rust, we haven't been able to play together a lot in the last two weeks and I think that showed a lot in the first quarter, especially on the offensive end," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "I was very proud of our defensive effort overall. I thought we grinded and found ways to get some stops and we got our running game going a little bit – we're good when we run. They made plays down the stretch, and we made plays down the stretch, they just got the last one."
 
Northern Colorado opened the game on a 13-0 run and it wasn't until the 3:52 mark of the first that the Eagles found the scoreboard. At the end of the first quarter, Eastern Washington trailed 15-5.
 
The Eagles shook the rust off in the second quarter, using a 13-2 run to trail by just six points, 28-22, at the half after outscoring the Bears 17-13 in the second frame.
 
Kirscher scored 10 of Eastern's 12 points in the third quarter, which was more than the entire UNC team, as EWU outscored them 12-9 in the frame. At the end of the third, Eastern Washington trailed 37-34.
 
Burnham came out in the fourth quarter and scored four-straight points to give Eastern its first lead of the game, 38-37, with 8:21 left to play. A layup from Jenna Dick then made it a 6-0 Eagle run to stretch the lead to 40-37.
 
The teams found themselves knotted up 46-46 with 3:32 remaining in the contest and went basket-for-basket to keep the game in a tie, 50-50, with 1:49 left on the clock. After UNC pulled ahead 54-52, freshman Aaliyah Alexander drove through the lane for a layup and was fouled. She completed the three-point play to give Eastern the advantage with 14 seconds remaining.
 
After a Northern Colorado timeout, the Bears made a lay-up with seven seconds to go and took a 56-55 lead. A pair of free throws with less than a second on the clock helped the Bears hang on for the 58-55 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: A four-game win-streak comes to a close for Eastern Washington, who falls to 5-7 overall and 4-3 in Big Sky Conference play. Northern Colorado improves to 5-9 and 4-5 in conference play.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Grace Kirscher led the team with 19 points, making 8-of-18 from field goal range. She also added two assists, a block and a steal.
 
Maisie Burnham scored in double figures for the seventh-straight game, adding 15 points while leading the team with nine rebounds and two steals. She was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line.
 
Redshirt-freshman Gabrielle Jung added a career-high nine points, making 4-of-6 from field goal range. Nuria Cunill led the team with two blocks and added five rebounds, while Jenna Dick dished four assists and also added five rebounds.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington shot just 37 percent on the night (22-59) from field goal range, but Northern Colorado made just 19-of-57 to shoot 33 percent.
 
From behind the arc, EWU was 3-12 (25%) while the Bears were 4-24 (17%). Eastern Washington was also a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line while Northern Colorado was 16-21.
 
The Bears out-rebounded the Eagles 41-33. The teams were even in the paint, 26-26, and UNC had 14 turnovers to Eastern's 13. In the assists category, EWU had 12 to UNC's eight.
 
The game was tied seven times with eight lead changes.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles and the Bears clash again on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Reese Court. Tip-off is set for noon on Pluto TV Ch. 1053.