The streak keeps going for Eastern Washington women's basketball, as they defeated Idaho State, 71-58 on Thursday night (Jan. 26). The Eagles raced out to an early lead in the first quarter and cruised to a double-digit win. The sharpshooting Jaydia Martin was at it again, scoring 25 points and shooting 5-of-8(62.5%) from three-point range.

Eastern is now 6-3 in the Big Sky and 13-6 overall this season. Idaho State drops to 3-5 in conference and 8-11 for the season.

"This team came out on a mission with extreme focus on the defensive end. One of our main goals was keeping them off the glass. Idaho State typically outrebounds their opponents by six and we won that battle at plus-five tonight," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "I'm so proud of the way our team shared the ball and played together the entire game. ISU made a run in the fourth and we answered the run with poise and execution. Aaliyah [Alexander] and Jaydia [Martin] were huge at the offensive end and seemed to hit timely shots when we needed them. Any road win is huge in this tough conference. All 20 people in our travel party helped in some way to secure this [win]. Go Eags!"

The first quarter began a close contest, and the teams were not able to gain any separation. Aaliyah Alexander and Jaydia Martin connected from three early to set the tone from outside. After being tied at eight with 4:07 on the clock, the Eagles ignited with a 13-0 run to close the quarter. Jamie Loera scored four points and Martin hit another three to fuel the run. Eastern led 21-8 after the first 10 minutes.

The Eagles shot 41.7 percent from the floor in the opening quarter and limited ISU to 20.0 percent.

The Bengals made adjustments at the break and came out with a 10-0 run to open the second quarter. Martin stopped the run with a layup off an ISU turnover. Alexander and Loera both added in a score to keep the lead for Eastern. The lead was 27-20 with 3:36 left in the half. The Bengals continued to connect on their jump shots, but Martin was able to match the scores as the half came to a close. The Eagles had a 34-26 lead.

Eastern shot 38.5 percent, while ISU was shooting hot with a 69.2 percent.

In the third, Eastern extended the lead out to double digits again, as Alexander and Loera both scored to begin the quarter. The lead grew to 17 on a three from Gabrielle Jung at the 7:06 point of the quarter. Alexander had the hot-hand in the quarter, scoring five points. The Eagles pushed their lead to 53-38 at the end of the third quarter, rebuilding the double-digit advantage.

In the quarter, Eastern shot 58.3 and held the Bengals to 27.8 percent from the floor.

Moving to the fourth quarter, the Eagles had established separation from ISU and looked to close out the game. Martin was the go-to option to secure the win for Eastern. She scored nine points in the quarter, going 3-of-5(60%) from three-point range. The Bengals had one last run in them, cutting the lead down to 68-55 with 2:09 left in the game. The Eagles were able to stop the run and secure the road win, 71-58. The team shot 50 percent in the fourth, while Idaho State shot a blistering, 88.9 percent.

The two teams shot close to each other, with Eastern at 46.9 percent and ISU at 45.5 percent.

Key Statistics
The Eagles won the rebounding battle 32 to 27. Eastern is now 7-0 this season when they they outrebound opponents.

Jaydia Martin recorded her fourth 20-point game this season and she has six in her career.

Eastern had 13 assists on 23 made field goals.

Aaliyah Alexander scored 12 points on 4-of-8(50%) shooting. Alexander now has nine games scoring in double figures this season.

The Eagles scored 15 points off of 14 Bengal turnovers.

Jamie Loera finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

Milly Knowles led the team with five assists, adding two steals.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will travel to play Weber State on Saturday (Jan. 28) at 12 p.m. Pacific Time.