FARMINGTON, Utah – The 2021 Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year is an Eastern Washington Eagle. Maisie Burnham, who was also an All-Big Sky Honorable Mention selection, is just the fifth EWU women's basketball player in school history to earn the award and the first since 2015.
 
Burnham showed consistency all year long, playing in 21 games and starting 17. The Spangle, Wash., native who ended her career at Liberty High School as a 2B State Champion and state tournament MVP, led the Eagles with 14.3 points per game at the end of the regular season. That mark is seventh overall in the Big Sky and also the best-ever by a freshman in program history. She scored 301 total points which is the sixth-most in the EWU freshmen record books.
 
"We are so proud of Maisie for earning this award. She is a talented and hard-working young woman and has had a great freshman campaign," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "She played alongside another very special freshman in Aaliyah Alexander and I know as they grow along with the rest of our team, we have great things on the horizon."
 
In conference-only games, Burnham put up 15.5 points per contest which ranked fifth overall at the end of the season. Burnham scored in double figures in 17 out of the 21 games she played in including all Big Sky games except for two. She had a 12-game streak of double-digit performances from Dec. 19 to Feb. 6, including three games of 20-or-more points during that span. Burnham's career-high of 25 points at Sacramento State on Jan. 28 was the most by an Eagle this season.
 
Burnham did more than just score. She also ranked second on the team in rebounds with 5.5 per contest, and notched a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds against Northern Colorado on Jan. 23. She was also one-point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds against the College of Idaho on Dec. 17.
 
She paced the Eagles with 1.7 steals per contest, notching three-or-more in four games. She facilitated with 1.9 assists per game, dishing three-or-more in six games with a career-high five set twice and averaged 29.9 minutes per game.
 
Burnham was also steady at the free-throw line, draining 78.4 percent (80-102) to rank inside the top-100 nationally all season. In conference play, she only missed 12 total, going 65-of-77 for an impressive mark of 84.4 percent. At Sacramento State on Jan. 28, she was 11-of-12 from the line.
 
In all, Burnham led the team in scoring in 11 games, rebounds and assists in six and steals in nine.
 
Burnham is the fifth player in program history to be named Big Sky Freshman of the Year. She joins the likes of Hayley Hodgins and Delaney Hodgins who won the award in 2013 and 2015, respectively, and went on to be Eastern Washington's all-time leading scorers. The other two honorees were Keri Schwenke (1992) and Kristy Missall (1993).
 
Burnham was also the only freshman in the conference to be named to an All-Big Sky team with her honorable mention nod.
 
Burnham and the Eagles are getting ready for the first round of the Big Sky Conference Championships tomorrow (March 8) at 1 p.m. Pacific time. No. 9 Eastern Washington takes on No. 8 Portland State on Pluto TV Ch. 1050 at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.