The matchup was tough for Eastern Washington women's basketball, but the team did not shy away from the challenge. Eastern fell to Sacramento State, 82-74, on Saturday (Jan. 7) to conclude the team's road trip. The Eagles are now 1-3 in the Big Sky and 8-6 overall, while the Hornets improved to 3-0 and 12-2 this season to lead the conference.

"I'm so proud of our team's effort and execution of our defensive plan. Ultimately it came down to Sac. St. knocking down threes and free throws, with us not doing the same," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "We had to double and help so much on [Isnelle] Natabou and [Kahlaijah] Dean, which left someone open, and you have to tip your hat. They hit those shots with the clock winding down. I'm super happy with how hard we played at that end of the court. Alexis Pettis and Gabrielle [Jung] came off the bench and really played well for us. They were spark plugs. We were balanced at the offensive end with five people in double figures, which was good to see."

Eastern had five players score in double digits, led by Jaydia Martin with 21 points on 7-of-15(46.7%) shooting. Jacinta Buckley scored 14 points and Alexis Pettis added 13. Jaleesa Lawrence and Jamie Loera added 10 points each.

The game began back-and-forth as both teams scored early and often. On a made jumper from Alexis Pettis, the Eagles were on top 7-6. The Hornets retook the lead with a made three and extended it out to 11-7 at 5:32 point of the quarter. Sac. St. would continue adding to its lead and separated by as much as eight in the quarter. After one quarter, the Hornets led the Eagles, 19-13 following a layup from Pettis.

Eastern shot 41.7 percent in the quarter and Sac. St. shot 50.0 percent to take the lead.

In the second quarter, Jaydia Martin settled in and scored the team's first five points. With Martin scoring, the Eagles cut the lead down to 22-18 at 6:45. As the quarter went on, the score remained close and the Hornets could not separate from the Eagles. Milly Knowles came up with four points for Eastern to keep pace and complement Martin's scoring. Sac. St. would close the half strong, hitting a deep three for a 37-29 lead.

The Eagles shot 41.2 percent in the second quarter, while the Hornets were shooting 50.0.

Going into the third, Sac. St. looked to continue building its lead in the third quarter, going up by 10 right out of the gate with a layup. Jacinta Buckley would help slash the lead in half, connecting on a jumper and making a free throw. At the 5:12 point in the quarter, Eastern trailed 45-40. The Hornets would then ripped off a 9-0 run to go up by 14 points with 2:55 left in the third. Buckley would make her free throws to close out the quarter, but the Eagles trailed 59-48 going to the fourth.

Eastern improved on its shooting, finishing with a 50.0 mark for the quarter. Sac. St. was shooting out of it mind at 77.8 percent to build its lead.

Now in the fourth quarter, Martin made a strong effort to reel back the Hornets. Martin scored four points over a minute stretch to get the score to 64-54 with 5:49 left in the game. Jamie Loera stepped into the scoring roll with six points and cutting the lead down to seven. Jaleesa Lawrence then scored in the paint and at the free throw line to continue the fight. Pettis would follow the group and scored with her jumper and went inside for a layup. The all-around effort from the Eagles was there in the fourth, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. Sac. St. went on to win the game 82-74. Eastern had a 44.4 shooting percentage in the final quarter, while the Hornets shot a 38.5 percentage.

Overall, Eastern Washington had a 43.9 shooting percentage for the game. Sacramento St. finished with a 52.1 percentage.

Key Statistics
Eastern scored 17 points off of 15 Sac. St. turnovers, while only having six turnovers of its own. The team had nine steals, led by Gabrielle Jung game-high three.

The Eagles lost the rebound battle (26-36), but outscored the Hornets in the paint (34-30).

Jaydia Martin notched her third game this season with 20 or more points. She has nine 20-point games in her career. Jamie Loera and Jaleesa Lawrence recorded their ninth and seventh double-digit scoring games this season respectively. Alexis Pettis scored in double figures for the first time this season.

Jacinta Buckley led the team with eight rebounds. Her 14 points gives her eight games in double figures this season and 27 in her career.

The game had six lead changes, but Eastern led for only 1:49 of the game.

The Hornets' Kahlaijah Dean scored 31 points in the game. Isnelle Natabou scored 13 points and had 15 rebounds.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will return to Reese Court and play Idaho next Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.