Nothing like home court advantage to get back on track as Eastern Washington women's basketball defeated Idaho, 74-59 today (Jan. 14). The Eagles trailed at halftime but outscored the Vandals 20 to 11 in the third quarter to take the lead. Eastern improves to 2-3 in the Big Sky and 9-6 overall this season. Idaho falls to 2-3 in conference and 6-10 overall. 

Milly Knowles scored 10 points in the third quarter that powered the run, and she finished with a career-high 14 in the game. Jaydia Martin was the team's high scorer, netting 16 points on 5-of-15(33.3%) shooting and 4-of-8(50.0%) from three-point range.

"Defense has been a focus for us this week. We have been giving up too many points in conference games, against good teams," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "We really tried to dial-in on one-on-one defense. As simple as it sounds, we worked on veering people off their path to the basket. We want to angle them two or three steps away from there. Idaho tries to get downhill and if you try to help on defense with them, they'll pass it out and hit threes. We are good on transition defense and then turn it into offense."

"We spoke about Idaho this morning, as a sort of local rivalry. It gave us a little bit more of an edge today," Knowles said. "We just looked inside more, and we were executing well. It wasn't any different plays, but Idaho was playing from behind, so I was more open. I just felt more confident after a few more went in. We emphasize getting the rebounds each week."

The first four points of the game went to Idaho, but Jaydia Martin put the team on the board with a three-pointer. Eastern would then take the lead, 6-4, with an and-one from Jaleesa Lawrence. It was a back-and-forth contest, with both teams scoring well. At the media timeout, Idaho led 11-10. Alexis Pettis returned the lead to the Eagles with a jumper. After a Vandal score, Pettis connected again with her jump shot for a 14-13 lead and 2:43 left in the quarter. Idaho would take the lead back with a layup in fast break. At the end of the first, Eastern trailed 14-15.

The Eagles shot just 28.6 percent in the quarter. Idaho was shooting 35.3 percent.

It was fast paced to begin the second quarter, as the lead changed twice in the first minute. Ella Gallatin made her jumper for Eastern's score. Idaho took a 23-20 lead at 6:23, but the Eagles would respond. Lawrence scored two-straight layups to give Eastern a 24-23 lead at the 5:19 point of the quarter. A short 5-0 run from the Vandals would give them the two-point lead. Martin tied the game with a three, but the Vandals responded right away with their own three. The score would tie again at 34 and 53 second left, behind a layup from Milly Knowles. Idaho made three free throws down the stretch to take the lead into half, 37-35.

In the quarter, Eastern turned its shooting around with a 46.7 percentage. Idaho shot better as well, finishing with a 50.0 percentage.

Starting the second half, the game continued to be highly contested, with neither team separating. Idaho was out front 40-35 before a made three from Jacinta Buckley brought the score back to one possession. Down two, Knowles went to work in the paint, scoring six points to give Eastern a 46-43 lead with 5:24 on the clock. The Vandals would tie the game at 48, but Knowles responded with another layup. Buckley would steal the ball for Idaho and lay it in to extend the lead. Next up it was Andie Zylak, who drained a three as the clock expired for quarter. Eastern had built a 55-48 lead.

The shooting continued to improve for the Eagles as they had a 52.9 percent mark in the quarter. Eastern's defense clamped down and held Idaho to a 23.5 percentage.

Moving to the fourth, the pace slowed as both teams struggled to score effectively early. Jamie Loera would pull the Eagles up, scoring five-straight points to give them a 60-50 lead with 6:50 left in the game. Martin lined up another three and connected to put Eastern on an 8-0 run. Idaho would stop the run on its next possession, but Eastern had the momentum. Martin continued to score well to close out the Vandals at the end. The Eagles won the game 74-57 and shot 42.1 percent in the final quarter. Idaho shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the fourth.

Eastern Washington had a 41.7 shooting percentage for the game, while the Vandals had a 34.4 percent mark.

Key Statistics
Eastern defeated Idaho for the first time since Jan. 12, 2018. The win ends the longest losing streak for Eastern against any Big Sky team.

Milly Knowles' career-high came on 7-of-12(58.3%) shooting. She had five rebounds and one block in the game. Her previous top scoring performance was 10 points.

Eastern had a season-high 51 rebounds in the game, while Idaho had only 26. The Eagles dominated the paint, outscoring the Vandals 38 to 22 in the half.

Jamie Loera posted her first career double-double at Eastern, tallying 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

The teams tied nine times and there were 11 lead changes. Eastern led for 19:21 minutes of the game.

Jaleesa Lawrence scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds to give the Eagles four in double figures for scoring.

The Eagles had a 17-7 advantage in fast break points.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will travel to Missoula, Mont. on Monday, Jan. 16 to play the Grizzlies at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.