Eastern Washington women's basketball felt the love on Valentine's Day, as they defeated Montana 63-57 at Reese Court. The Eagles led wire-to-wire against the Lady Griz Monday night, fending off every push from Montana. With the win, Eastern improves to 4-10 in the Big Sky and 6-17 overall this season.

"There's huge overall joy for these players. They've bought into what we're trying to do and continue to come ready to fight in practice and learn," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "Our coaches are working hard to get our scouts ready, and they're locked in to what we want to do. Defensively in the first half, we held Montana to nine points in both quarters. It's good any time you can keep a team in single digits, but Montana is a high-powered offense that can put a lot of points on the board."

Alexis Pettis led Eastern with 18 points on 8-of-16(50%) shooting, while Jacinta Buckley notched her seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

"I'm just getting down-hill and they can't stop me," Pettis said. "I'm too fast and I've been feeling my mid-range a lot more and I've been working on it. That's what I've been doing and [coaches] have been getting me in the right position. [Montana] tried to cut off my drive, so I stopped real quick and pulled-up, with no contest most of the time."

Jaydia Martin started the game off with a layup on the team's first possession. The layup started a 7-0 run for the Eagles, with a jumper from Buckley and a three-pointer from Andie Zylak. After Montana stopped the run, Eastern continued to score, extending the lead to 13-4 on a three from Pettis. Buckley added another layup with under a minute left and the Eagles held a 15-7 lead at the end of one. Eastern shot 6-of-17(35.3%) in the quarter and held Montana to 3-of-14(21.4%) shooting in the quarter.

Pettis kept the pressure on in the second quarter, scoring four points early to keep the Lady Griz at arms-length, 21-13. Buckley started to find her stroke in the quarter, scoring three-straight points for the Eagles and extending the lead to 24-13 with 5:25 on the clock. Eastern stretched its lead out, with Buckley connecting for another jumper to extend the lead to 28-15. A jumper from Pettis and a floater from Zylak opened a 32-15 lead on the Lady Griz. The shots were part of an 11-2 stretch for the Eagles. A late basket from Montana cut off some of the lead, but Eastern was up 32-18 at halftime. The eagles shot an impressive 47.1 percent from the floor, while limiting the Lady Griz to 36.4 percent.

Montana scored the first four points of the third quarter, further cutting into the Eastern lead. Pettis again drove into the paint and scored the basket to give the Eagles their first points of the quarter. The score opened an 8-2 run for Eastern, with Pettis, Jaleesa Lawrence and Núria Cunill all scoring. The Eagles were up 40-24 with 5:25 left in the quarter and forcing a Lady Griz timeout. Out of the break, Montana went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to single digits. Pettis scored again to stop the run and Martin lined up a three put the Eagles up by 12, 45-33. Following a score from the Lady Griz, Pettis drained a jumper as time expired and Eastern went to the fourth with a 47-35 advantage.

The final quarter started fast, as the teams traded baskets in the first two minutes, with Martin dropping in five points to keep the double-digit lead. The teams traded 5-0 spurts and score went to 56-44 with five minutes left in the game. The Lady Griz would continue to score, but Eastern responded each time. Buckley hit a critical three with 3:07 left on the clock to and put the Eagles up 59-46. Montana mounted a late charge with a 7-0 run to pull within six of Eastern, with 34 seconds left in the game. The Eagles would make their free-throws down the stretch to close out the Lady Griz, 63-57.

Eastern Washington shot 38.8 percent in the game, while Montana had a 39.7 average for the game.

Gleason talked about how the team was able to find more offensive production in the past three games. "As a coaching staff, we look at what we do well and how can we get more points on the board. We really evaluated ourselves in the previous few weeks to try and figure out other ways to score. [Alexis Pettis], Jaleesa [Lawrence], and Jacinta [Buckley] out on the wings; one of them will have a mismatch and we have worked to get our players to recognize that. Andie [Zylak] has been doing a great and all of the guards are doing a good job of getting them the ball to score."

Top Performances
Alexis Pettis matched her career-high with 18 points for the second straight game, adding four rebounds in the game as well. Pettis averaged 15.0 points per game in the past three games.

Jacinta Buckley recorded her second straight double-double on Monday and is averaging 11.7 rebounds per game in the past three contests. It was her tenth straight game scoring in double figures. Buckley also set a career-high with five steals.

Jaydia Martin added 10 points on 4-of-13(30.7%) and was 2-of-9(22%) from three-point range. Martin added five rebounds.

Andie Zylak scored four points and had six assists in the team's win, along with four rebounds.

Jaleesa Lawrence scored four points and set a career-high with four steals.

Key Statistics
Eastern Washington forced 17 turnovers and scored 13 points off them in the game. The Eagles committed only 11 turnovers in the game.

Eastern topped Montana in the rebounding battle, with a 42-38 edge. The Lady Griz won the battle in the pain, outscoring the Eagles, 34-30.

Led by Alexis Pettis, Eastern's bench outscored Montana's, 22-14.

The Eagles grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored nine points off the second chance opportunities.

Eastern evens the season series against Montana, with the Lady Griz winning earlier this season in Missoula.

Up Next
Eastern Washington is on the road this weekend, matching up against Montana State on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. They will then travel to Moscow to play Idaho at 1 p.m. as part of a double-header with men's basketball matchup against the Vandals.