The holiday season is here, and Big Sky games follow soon after for Eastern Washington women's basketball. Eastern will first play its final non-conference game when they host Utah State on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.

The game will streamed live on ESPN+ and live stats can be viewed on GoEags.com. Fans can purchase tickets to the game at Reese Court on game day or online by clicking the link HERE. A purchased ticket for the women's game will get free admission to Eastern men's game at 3:30 p.m. against Northwest Indian College. At halftime, fans can once again have their photo taken with Santa Swoop. Additionally, fans can bring nonperishable food items to donate to the EWU food pantry for Eagle students. 

Last Time Out
The Eagles were in Eugene, Ore. this past Thursday (Dec. 15) to play No. 15/16 Oregon, and the Ducks had a commanding, 88-38 win. Eastern trailed by nine after the first quarter, but Oregon would separate in the second quarter for a 42-20 lead at halftime. The Ducks continued to control the game in the second half and limited the Eagles on the offensive end of the court to secure the win.

Jamie Loera led the team with nine points and Jacinta Buckley scored eight. Buckley and Jaydia Martin each recorded five rebounds in the game. Overall, Eastern shot 21.3 percent and Oregon had a 45.5 percent mark from the floor.

A Look at the Eagles
Eastern Washington is 6-3 on the year as they prepare to wrap up non-conference games. Eastern is 4-1 at home and 2-2 on the road. The Eagles hold the fourth-ranked scoring offense (69.0) and defense (62.0) in the Big Sky. From the floor, Eastern is shooting 40.0 percent, while holding opponents to a 39.4 percent. Both percentages rank fifth in the conference. Protecting the ball continues to be an emphasis for the Eagles and the boast the top turnover margin in the Big Sky at plus-6.89. The team also has the best assist-to-turnover margin of 1.15.

Leading the scoring effort for the Eagles is Jaydia Martin, who averages 14.1 points per game and shoots 40.4 percent from three-point range. Martin averages 2.6 made threes a game and is shooting 42.6 percent overall this season. The sophomore ranks ninth in the Big Sky in scoring, fifth in three-point percentage and fourth in made three-pointers per game.

Contributing across the board, Jamie Loera is the lynchpin of Eastern's team. Loera leads the Eagles in assists (33) and steals (26), while being second in points (11.3) and rebounds (5.8). The Moses Lake, Wash. is native is tied for 16^th in the Big Sky in scoring and is tied for 14^th in rebounding. Additionally, Loera averages 3.7 assists per game to rank sixth in the conference, while holding the third-ranked assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.7. Loera's 2.9 steals per game average is also the top figure in the Big Sky.

As a team, Eastern averages 11.1 steals per game, also the top figure in the conference.

The Eagles have 28 blocks this season and average 3.11 per game. Jacinta Buckley leads the team and is tied for fifth in the Big Sky with 1.0 average per game. Milly Knowles averages 0.7 per game to rank 17^th, while Jaleesa Lawrence and Camille Jentzsch average 0.6 and 0.5 blocks per game to tie for 18^th and 21^st on the conference leaderboard respectively.

Buckley leads the team and is 10^th in the Big Sky with 6.7 rebounds per game.

Scouting the Aggies
Utah State is 3-7 on the season, going 1-4 on the road and 2-3 at home. The Aggies will come into the contest against Eastern with nine days of rest. Most recently, they fell to Loyola Marymount by a score of 63-71 (Dec. 10). On Dec. 1, they defeated Big Sky opponent, Weber State, by a score of 74-69.
 
Utah State averages 61.6 points per game, allowing 71.2. They rank third in the Mountain West with a 34.5 three-point percentage, placing fourth in offensive rebounds per game (12.3).
 
The Aggies are led by graduate student guards Maria Carvalho and Mayson Kimball, both of whom average 11.6 points per game. Carvalho averages 6.0 rebounds per game to lead the team and shoots 45.9% from three. Junior guard Tamiah Robinson paces the the team with 3.5 assists per game, adding 9.2 points per contest.
 
Series History
Eastern is 1-2 against Utah State, losing the most recent matchup between the two teams by a score of 65-71 in overtime (Dec. 6, 2008).
 
EWU vs. the Mountain West
Eastern is 37-50 against the Mountain West Conference after defeating Boise State earlier this season by a score of 83-74 (Nov. 11).
 
Up Next
Eastern Washington will be off until Dec. 29 when they open conference play against Montana at Reese Court, with tipoff at 6 p.m.