There was a clear difference from three weeks ago when Eastern Washington women's basketball played Montana in Cheney. Eastern defeated the Grizzlies, 87-60 in Missoula, Mont. on Monday night (Jan. 16) to split the season series with the Grizzlies. Jaydia Martin keyed the win with a career-high 33 points and helped the Eagles improve to 3-3 in conference and 10-6 overall. Montana falls to 4-3 in the Big Sky and 8-10 overall.

"So proud of the way our team bought into our defensive plan. Their preparation and focus was incredible. Every win is important, but especially road wins in this balanced Big Sky Conference. Those are huge," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "Milly Knowles backed up her performance last game with another double-digit scoring game, while being highly efficient. Jaydia Martin found a nice balance to her game. She knew when to be aggressive to the rim, when to take the open three and really let the game come to her. I could call out every single person on this team for contributing in some way, whether they played 33 minutes or zero minutes. The stats don't always show some of the contributors that are equally important. Go Eags!"

Eastern set the tone early in the game, opening with a 10-0 run to put the Grizzlies on their heels. Martin started her career night with four points in the run, complemented by Jaleesa Lawrence adding four. Milly Knowles was effective in the paint, scoring four points in the quarter. The lead was extended to as much as 14 in the quarter. Eastern was in control and led 26-14 after the first 10 minutes.

The Eagles had a blistering 66.7 shooting percentage in first. Montana shot 43.8 percent in the quarter.

In the second quarter, Martin connected with two more three-pointers early, adding a layup to build a 34-20 lead with 6:30 on the clock. At the 4:08 point, Andie Zylak knocked down a jumper for an 18-point lead at 41-23. The shots were falling for Eastern, and they continued to pull away from the Grizzlies in the quarter. Jacinta Buckley joined in with two layups, and Jamie Loera added a made jumper. At halftime, Eastern was up 48-25 and Martin had 21 points through 20 minutes.

For the quarter, the Eagles stayed hot with a 60.0 shooting percentage. Montana struggled to score with a 26.7 percentage from the floor.

The lead continued to increase for Eastern, as Martin and Knowles continued their strong scoring nights. At the media timeout, Eastern was up 56-29 with 6:35 on the clock. The deficit grew to 31 points with 3:39 left in the quarter. Knowles scored on a layup and Martin connected with another three. After the third quarter, Eastern extended its lead to 75-43.

The quarter saw the Eagles shoot 64.7 percent and Montana finished with 46.2 percent.

Now in the fourth quarter, Montana strung together several baskets and cut the Eastern lead down to 27 points at the 6:20 mark. Knowles stayed aggressive in the paint, scoring four points in the quarter. Lawrence contributed four points as well. Ella Gallatin added four points of her own to keep the offense going for the Eagles in the fourth. Eastern cruised to the 87-60 win, shooting 30.8 percent in the quarter.

Overall, Eastern had a 57.1 shooting percentage in the game and Montana was at 41.4 percent.

Key Statistics
Eastern had a season-best shooting percentage against the Grizzlies. The Eagles never trailed, and the game was only tied for 17 seconds.

Jaydia Martin's career-game came on 14-of-23(60.9%) shooting and 5-of-11(45.5%) from three-point range. Her previous high was 25 against Northern Colorado last season. It was Martin's 10^th career game scoring over 20 points and fourth this season. She has five games in her career with five or more made three-pointers. The 30-point game was the first for Eastern since Grace Kirscher scored 31 on March 6, 2020. It was the most points since Violet Kapri Morrow scored 37 on Jan. 19, 2019.

Milly Knowles scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in her career with 12 points tonight. Knowles has four games this season in double figures and seven for her career.

Eastern had a 46 to 34 scoring advantage in the paint.

Jamie Loera scored nine points and led the team with eight rebounds and six assists.

Jaleesa Lawrence was effective with 13 points on 5-of-8(62.5%) shooting.

Alexis Pettis matched her career-high with three steals.

The team matched its season low with six turnovers.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will be back at Reese Court later this week to play Northern Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. The Eagles then host Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m.