It might be Valentine's Day on Monday, but Eastern Washington women's basketball will be back on the court. The Eagles host Montana in a rescheduled matchup at Reese Court, with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

Equality and Inclusion Night
Monday night will be Eastern's Equality and Inclusion Night. The Eagles are partnering with Eastern's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Rising Coaches DEI Alliance.

Equality and Inclusion Night is a nationwide campaign put on by Rising Coaches DEI Alliance intended to use college basketball as a platform to keep equality in the national conversation.
 
Rising Coaches visits athletic departments all around the nation to host workshops for student athletes and coaching staffs. The workshops are intended to provide training to help with finan­cial literacy, building and monetizing brands, mental health, mindset training and emotional intelligence.
 
The team will be wearing black to show solidarity and fans are encouraged too as well.

Last Time Out
The Eagles went head-to-head against conference leader, Idaho State on Saturday afternoon in Pocatello. Eastern battled the Bengals tough, but ISU pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 79-62 win.
 
Alexis Pettis led the Eagles with 18 points on 7-of-17(41.1%) shooting, with Jacinta Buckley scoring 15 and Jaydia Martin adding 10.
 
Eastern trailed by eight after the first quarter but would cut the lead to five by halftime. In the third quarter, Milly Knowles scored two quick layups to pull the Eagles within one of the Bengals. ISU would respond with a 6-0 run to give them some separation from Eastern. The lead for the Bengals stayed at seven at the end of the third quarter, 57-50.
 
In the fourth, ISU pushed its lead out, going up 62-50 early in the quarter. Pettis continued to be effective for the Eagles, scoring eight of her 18 points in the quarter. Despite the effort from Pettis, Eastern could not close the gap on ISU. The Bengals offense ran effectively in the fourth, shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and allowed ISU to close out the Eagles.
 
For the game, Eastern shot 34.3 percent and were 11-of-14(78.6%) from the free-throw line. Idaho St. shot 44.4 percent overall.

A Look at the Eagles
Eastern Washington holds a 5-17 overall record this season and is 3-10 in Big Sky matchups. The team is 4-8 at Reese Court and 1-8 in road contests, while going 0-1 in neutral site matchups.
 
The team has tallied 195 total steals on the season, averaging 8.9 a game. Jaydia Martin leads the Eagles with 34 total this season and Jaleesa Lawrence has contributed 28 for Eastern. Milly Knowles has recorded 24, while Jacinta Buckley has added 23.
 
The Eagles have been steadily improving their free-throw percentage, moving to a 70.8 percent average as a team. Buckley leads the team with an 86.4 percent mark from the line. The sophomore has gone a perfect 15-for-15 in the past two games. Martin slides in right behind Buckley with an 83.3 free-throw percentage.
 
Buckley has become the key two-way player for the Eagles leading the team in rebounds(8.7) and is second in points(12.5). Buckley's six double-doubles leads the team, and she has seven games with double digit rebounds. The Spokane, Wash. native has 14 double-digit scoring games, including nine straight.
 
Martin continues to be the main scorer for the Eagles, leading the team with 14.3 points per game. The true freshman has scored in double figures in 19 of the team's 22 games. Against ISU, Martin was 2-of-9 from three-point range, giving her 49 total this season that leads the Big Sky. Martin's 169 three-point attempts leads the conference and her 2.23 three-pointers per game ranks third. The Vancouver, Wash. native is third in the Big Sky with 359 total field-goal attempts, while being 30th in the nation.
 
Eastern's field-goal defense has been a strong point for the team with a 38.0 average allowed. The team is allowing opponents to shoot 31.5 percent from three-point range and is giving up 64.2 points per game.

A Look at the Lady Griz
Montana enters Monday with a 7-5 record in the Big Sky and 14-7 overall. The Lady Griz dropped a close game on the road to Northern Arizona, 59-60, this past Thursday. The team was scheduled to play Portland State on Saturday, but it was rescheduled due to COVID protocols in the Vikings program.
 
Abby Anderson is the top blocker in the Big Sky, with 45 total this season and a 2.14 average per game. With Anderson's effort, Montana leads the conference with 4.9 blocks per game and is second with 103 total blocks for the season.
 
Sophia Stiles leads the conference with a 2.38 assist-to-turnover ratio, while ranking third in assists per game(4.7) and fourth in total assists(93).
 
As a team, the Lady Griz top the Big Sky in rebounds, averaging 42.1 per game. Anderson leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game, followed closely by Carmen Gfeller with 6.7.
 
Montana also leads in field-goal percentage defense(35%), fewest turnovers(286) and fewest fouls(292)
 
Series History
Eastern Washington largely trails the Montana in the series history, 18-69. Against the Lady Griz, the Eagles have a 12-26 record at Reese Court and 6-41 record on the road, while going 0-2 at neutral sites. Eastern has dropped the last five games to Montana.
 
Back in January, Montana topped the Eagles in Missoula, 68-50. Jaydia Martin scored 21 points in the game and had 11 rebounds.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will get back on the road this weekend, traveling to play Montana State on Thursday, Feb. 17 with tip-off at 6 p.m. The Eagles will then play Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.