Eastern Washington women's basketball faced No. 15/16 Oregon on Thursday night (Dec. 15), losing to the Ducks, 88-36. Eastern was not able to cool off the Oregon shooters and struggled to score to keep pace. Eastern's record now falls to 6-3 this season and the Ducks improve to 8-1.

"Unfortunately, we struggled shooting against a very good Oregon team, which resulted in our worst outing of the year," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "A lot of our trouble scoring had to do with Oregon's defense and its interior presence dominated us at both ends. I'm proud of the way the team didn't quit and worked hard to the end. We will move our focus to Utah State and prepare for our last preseason game."

Eastern struck first in the game, with Jacinta Buckley hitting a long-range three for an early lead. Oregon responded with a 7-0 run to assert control. The Eagles stayed focused and ran their offense, getting jumpers from Jamie Loera and Jaydia Martin. At 5:48, Eastern was behind only 7-9, but the Ducks would score the next four points to extend their lead. After a pair of free throws from Loera, Oregon connected from deep again and the lead was 17-9. Loera followed up with her own three to keep the Ducks in striking distance. Eastern cut the Oregon lead to 15-20 with under a minute to play, but the Ducks rattled off four quick points for a 24-15 advantage at the break.

In the first quarter, Eastern was 4-of-13(30.8%) from the floor. Oregon shot 8-of-14(57.1%) to take the lead.

The Eagles and Ducks had difficulty scoring to start the second quarter. There was only one made three from Oregon between the teams through the first three minutes. The Ducks began to pull away from Eastern, growing the lead to double-digits with an 8-0 run. Oregon led 35-17 with 4:05 left in the half. Gabrielle Jung broke the run with a three, but the Ducks came right back with a 7-0 run. At halftime, Oregon led Eastern 42-20.

The Eagles struggled with a 13.3 shooting percentage, while Oregon built its lead with a 33.3 percentage.

The Duck run continued into the third quarter, extending out to a 17-0 stretch between the two quarters. Buckley would end the run with a made three-pointer at the 5:23 mark. Oregon would continue to add to its lead, racing away from Eastern. At the end of the third, the Ducks had a 67-25 advantage over the Eagles.

Eastern could not find any rhythm and sputtered with a 6.3 shooting percentage. Oregon shot 55.0 percent in the quarter.

With a sizable deficit, the Eagles did not stop playing in the fourth quarter. The team had made shots from Buckley, Aaliyah Alexander, Camille Jentzsch, Jayden McNeal and Ella Gallatin. Oregon would still outscore Eastern in the quarter, 21-13 to secure the 88-38 win on its home court. The Eagles improved their shooting to 35.3 percent, while the Ducks shot 40.9 in the quarter.

For the game, Eastern shot 21.3 percent from the floor, while Oregon was in control with a 45.5 percent.

Key Statistics
Jamie Loera led the team in scoring with nine points and Jacinta Buckley had eight.

Eastern shot 16.1 percent from three-point range and Oregon was at 32.0 percent.

Buckley and Jaydia Martin each had five rebounds for the Eagles.

Eastern had three blocks in the game, with two from Milly Knowles and one from Camille Jentzsch.

Oregon scored 48 points in the paint and had a 65 to 27 advantage in rebounds.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will close out its non-conference schedule against Utah State on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time from Reese Court.