SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It was a game of runs in Sacramento, Calif., tonight (Jan. 28) as the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team took on Sacramento State. The Eagles erased a 12-point deficit to lead by five points with less than five minutes remaining in the contest, but came up short and fell by a final score of 82-76.
 
Five Eagles scored in double figures, led by Maisie Burnham with a career-high 25 points. Jenna Dick followed with 14 while Aaliyah Alexander added 13. Kennedy Dickie (12) and Grace Kirscher (11) rounded out the top-scorers of the evening.
 
"Our rough fourth quarter doomed us. I thought Sacramento State really continued to attack and we didn't respond well," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "We had way too many breakdowns in transition and that led to easy baskets for them. We need to fix those mistakes and make some other adjustments and be ready to go on Saturday."
 
The first quarter was a game of runs, as Sacramento State opened the contest on a 7-0 spurt. At the 6:07 mark, Eastern Washington found its first points from Maisie Burnham and it sparked an 8-0 run to give EWU its first lead of the game, 8-7. Dickie, in her first game back since Jan. 2, had four points during the streak. It was the Hornets who had the final say of the quarter, using a 13-3 run over the final 3:39 to lead 20-11 after one.
 
Eastern Washington outscored the Hornets 17-14 in the second quarter, thanks to nine points from Dick during the frame. After a scoreless spell where they fell behind 30-19, EWU went on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit back down to five points, 30-25. Dick made her third three-pointer of the quarter with less than a minute to go in the half, but the Eagles trailed 34-28 heading into the break.
 
The Eagles came out of the half and quickly made 4-of-4 from field goal range, with four different players contributing, to tie the game 36-36. Sacramento State responded quickly as well with an 8-0 run to pull back ahead 44-36.
 
It was then Eastern's turn for a scoring spurt, as Burnham completed another three-point play that began nine unanswered for EWU as they retook a 45-44 lead. After the Hornets pulled back ahead 50-47, a three-pointer from Dickie tied the game. Burnham would close the quarter with two more free throws, and Eastern Washington led 52-50 heading into the fourth.
 
With 4:02 remaining in the contest, Eastern Washington held its largest lead of the game, 71-66. The Hornets then used a 9-0 run to pull ahead for good, 75-71. Kirscher drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to give EWU some hope as they trailed 78-76, but the come back would fall short and the Hornets edged the Eagles 82-76.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington now drops to 5-9 overall and 4-5 in Big Sky Conference action. Sacramento State moves to 1-11 and 1-8. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak on the road in Sacramento, Calif.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Maisie Burnham extended her double-digit scoring streak to nine games after scoring a career-high 25 points. She was a career-best 11-of-12 from the free throw line and made 7-of-11 from the field. She also had five rebounds and three assists. This is Burnham's second-straight game (third overall) with over 20 points, as she set a previous career-high of 22 last week against Northern Colorado (Jan. 23).
 
Jenna Dick scored 14 points after making 4-of-6 from three-point range and grabbing four rebounds. Aaliyah Alexander added 13 points while also adding five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
 
In her first game back since Jan. 2 at Portland State, Kennedy Dickie added 12 points to extend her double-digit scoring streak to eight games. She led the team with six rebounds.
 
Grace Kirscher rounded out the scoring with 11 points and also had three assists and four steals.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington was 26-of-56 from the field to shoot 46 percent on the evening while the Hornets were 26-of-63 to shoot 41 percent.
 
From three-point range, EWU made 8-of-25 and Sac State was 10-of-34. Both teams were solid at the free throw line as well, with the Hornets making 20-of-23 and the Eagles making 16-of-20.
 
EWU collected 13 steals and forced 18 Hornet turnovers, turning them in to 21 points. Eastern was edged in the rebounding margin, 36-32, and in the paint, 32-26.
 
The game saw six lead changes and four ties.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington and Sacramento State face off again in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 12 p.m. Pacific time.