The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team played its final non-conference game of the season tonight (Dec. 21) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash., where they lost to Gonzaga 76-48. With the loss, the Eagles end the non-conference slate 2-8 (0-1 Big Sky) while the Bulldogs improve to 9-3.
 
Eastern trailed Gonzaga by just nine at the half, but a big 31-point third quarter from the Bulldogs was the difference maker. Jaydia Martin led the Eagles with 12 points, extending the true freshman's double-digit scoring streak to 10 games.
 
"Gonzaga came out in the third quarter and took it to us. They have had a few games where they have had leads at halftime and lost them in the end, they were bound and determined not to let that happen again. I don't think it was anything that we did necessarily terrible or wrong, Gonzaga just came out and executed what they wanted to and took us out of what we wanted to do," said head coach Joddie Gleason. "I was really happy with the fight that we continued to show, never quitting or giving up down the stretch. Playing quality opponents only help going forward. We're right there, we are getting better and better and are a completely different team today than we were in November. The different types of teams we've played, the schedule that we've played, it's going to help us."
 
Gonzaga shot 45 percent (9-20) from the field compared to the Eagles who shot 29 percent (5-17) to lead 20-11 after the first quarter.
 
Jaydia Martin hit a three-pointer and Jaleesa Lawrence made a layup to start the Eagles off on a 5-0 run in the second quarter, trimming the deficit to 20-16. A quick 7-0 run by Gonzaga put the Bulldogs up 27-16, but the Eagles continued to hang around and used another 5-0 run to cut the lead to 27-21. Gonzaga pulled ahead 33-21 after a 6-0 spurt, but a Martin three snapped the run and the Eagles trailed 33-24 at the half.
 
Gonzaga opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run and wound up outscoring the Eagles 31-9 during the period to take a 64-33 lead into the fourth.
 
Eastern Washington used a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to outscore Gonzaga 15-12, but fell 76-48.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Jaydia Martin led the Eagles with 12 points, extending her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games. She also had the team's lone block.
 
Milly Knowles followed with seven points on 3-of-5 from the field plus five rebounds. Jaleesa Lawrence also added seven points. Andie Zylak led the team with six assists,
 
Jacinta Buckley also had five rebounds and Bria Rice led the team with four steals.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Eastern Washington was held to 32.2 percent (19-59) from the field and finished with five three-pointers, plus 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 46.2 percent from the field (30-65), 29.2 percent from three-point range (7-24) and were a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
 
Eastern was out-rebounded 45-to-29 and committed 19 turnovers to GU's 16. The Bulldogs had 38 points in the paint compared to 20 for Eastern, and GU had 27 points off of turnovers.
 
UP NEXT: After a break for the holidays, Eastern Washington is back in action for the re-start of Big Sky play next week. The Eagles host Portland State at Reese Court on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. and Northern Arizona on Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
As a reminder, proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours for fans ages 11 or older is required for entry to home games. Masks must be worn for fans ages five years old or older unless actively eating or drinking.
 
Tickets are available at GoEags.com/tickets.