CHENEY, Wash. – Make it four wins in a row for the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team after a 71-59 victory over Weber State today (Jan. 9) at Reese Court.
 
Four scored in double figures for the Eagles including a trio of freshmen in Maisie Burnham (17 pts), Aaliyah Alexander (15 pts) and Nùria Cunill (10 points). Jenna Dick added 11 points and Alexander earned her second-straight double-double with 10 rebounds.
 
"We put on a gutsy second-half performance I thought," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "We really challenged our team to defend, because giving up 37 points in a half is not acceptable. I should've got us out of the zone earlier because we were giving up too much and being passive. The second half, we came out and only gave up seven points in the third quarter and held them to 30 percent shooting overall. Those are the defensive numbers we like to see."
 
Weber State opened the game on a 4-0 run and built an early 12-5 lead. Eastern Washington stayed composed and used a 5-0 run to make it an 18-17 game in favor of Weber State. Once the Wildcats pulled back ahead 20-17, Cunill made a layup to cut the deficit to one-point. The Eagles then kept WSU scoreless for the final three minutes of the quarter to trail 20-19 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Eastern Washington found its first lead early in the second quarter after an Alexander layup, and it was part of a 10-0 run that spanned two quarters to build a 27-20 lead. Weber State didn't score until the 5:45 mark of the second quarter, but they made back-to-back three-pointers for a 6-0 run that cut the lead to 27-26. Both sides traded baskets from there and Dick was fouled on a breakaway layup and made the and-one to give Eastern a 37-35 advantage. However, Weber State would answer with a second to go to knot the game up 37-37 at the end of the half.
 
Alexander broke the tie within the first seven seconds of the second half and a quick 4-0 EWU run helped the Eagles pull ahead, 41-37. Both sides went basket-for-basket from there, but Eastern Washington maintained the lead and held Weber State scoreless for the final 4:36 of the third quarter. The Eagles used a 6-0 run to take a 51-44 lead heading into the fourth after outscoring the Wildcats 14-7 during the frame.
 
Dick made a three-pointer midway through the fourth to help the Eagles pull ahead by their largest lead of the afternoon, 61-51. The Wildcats then answered with four-straight points to cut the lead with 2:36 to play. With under two minutes to go, Burnham made a contested three-pointer that was followed by a turn-around jumper from Cunill for a 5-0 spurt. The run helped put the Wildcats away, as EWU held them to just 28.6 percent from the field in the fourth while shooting 54.5 percent themselves. WSU made one more jumper with nine seconds remaining, but it wouldn't be enough as Eastern Washington won 71-59.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington improves to 5-6 overall with a 4-2 mark in Big Sky Conference play. Weber State falls to 0-7 and 0-4.
 
This is the first time EWU has won four-straight games since the 2017-18 season when they won their four final regular season games.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: For the fourth time in five games, Maisie Burnham led the way in scoring, adding 17 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range.
 
Aaliyah Alexander earned her second-straight double-double, marking the third-straight game EWU has had one. She scored 15 points and added 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. The freshman was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and was 4-for-7 from the field.
 
Jenna Dick added 11 points and led the team with three assists. Nùria Cunill was the final Eagle in double figures with a career high 10 points (5-7 from the field) and also grabbed seven rebounds. Junior Grace Kirscher added nine points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington shot 43.9 (25-57) percent from the field this afternoon and held the Wildcats to just 33.3 percent (21-63).
 
The teams were fairly even from behind the arc, with EWU making 7-21 and the Wildcats were 6-21. Eastern Washington only missed one free throw on 15 attempts, while WSU was 11-14.
 
Eastern Washington was out-rebounded 39 to 35, but won the battle in the paint with 30 points to WSU's 28. The Eagles forced 16 turnovers and turned them in to 15 points and committed 14 themselves. Ten of EWU's 25 field goals were assisted.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington plays back-to-back games at Southern Utah next week on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Pacific time on both evenings in Cedar City, Utah.