Eastern Washington women's basketball is on the court Sunday for its final tune-up before the 2022-23 season officially begins. The Eagles will host the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers on Sunday, Oct. 30, with tip-off at 2 p.m. Pacific Time at Reese Court.

The exhibition game is free to attend for the public.

This season will be head coach Joddie Gleason's second at the helm. In her first season, Gleason and the Eagles were 9-21 with a 7-13 record in Big Sky games. The team finished ninth in the conference and played in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament. Eastern lost in the first round to the eighth seed, Northern Colorado.

The Eagles have eight returners from last year's team, including all five of their predominate starters. The starters include Jacinta Buckley, Jaleesa Lawrence, Milly Knowles, Jaydia Martin and Andie Zylak.

Martin was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year last season and earned an All-Big Sky honorable mention. The awards come after the Vancouver, Wash. native set freshman program records in scoring average(15.2), total points(455), field goals(149), field goal attempts(476), three-pointers(71) and three-point attempts(223).

Buckley was an All-Big Sky third team selection after ranking third in the conference with 8.5 rebounds per game. Buckley also averaged 12.9 points per game and posted eight double-doubles in her sophomore season.

Zylak led the team with 98 assists last season and averaged 5.0 points per game. Knowles was second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game and led the team with a 46.6 shooting percentage. Lawrence was third on the team with 8.4 points per game and led the team with a 39.8 three-point shooting percentage.

Along with the starters, four more Eagles return for the upcoming season. The group includes Alexis Pettis, Devynn Warns, Gabrielle Jung and Aaliyah Alexander. Pettis was key off the bench for Eastern last season, appearing in all 30 games and averaging 7.5 points. Gleason will have Alexander available for the first time since coming to Cheney, after she missed last season with an injury.

With a strong returning class, Eastern only gets richer as a deep group of freshmen will join the team this season. The freshman squad includes forwards Jayden McNeal, Cori Wilcox, Addison Hall, Camille Jentzsch and Bella Hays. The class also includes new guards, Ella Gallatin and Breeje Schuler.

Eastern will also benefit from the arrival of Arizona State transfer, Jamie Loera, who joins the team as a graduate student at guard.

Scouting the Mountaineers
Eastern Oregon was 22-11 last season with an 18-4 record in Cascade Collegiate Conference games, losing in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Mountaineers were selected to finish second in the CCC preseason poll. The team returns four starters from last season, including 2021 CCC Player of the Year senior guard Beverly Slater. The Mounties also return All-CCC first team selection senior guard, Sailor Liefke.

Head coach Anji Weissenfluh begins his 23^rd season leading Eastern Oregon and has a 497-174 overall record.

Eastern Washington has a 4-0 record against Eastern Oregon in program history. The teams last played in November of 2018, with the Eagles winning 66-45 at Reese Court.

Up Next
Eastern Washington's 2022-23 regular season begins against Corban University on Monday, Nov. 7. The game will be played at Reese Court with tip-off at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.