CHENEY, Wash.— Defense was the name of the game for Eastern Washington women's basketball as they defeated Boise State, 64-43. Eastern's defense made it difficult throughout the afternoon at Reese Court for the Broncos, holding them to single digit scoring to two quarters. EWU improves to 5-2 this season following the win.
"We talked about keeping Boise State off the glass. That was the biggest key from the Gonzaga game and our number one, two and three goals of this game," head coach Joddie Gleason explained. "If you have a tough, heartbreaking loss, you learn and grow from it to not do it the next game. That's huge for us in our journey this season. I think [rebounding] is a mindset. We know they have dominant posts and we have to make sure we're making contact to keep them off. We also had to make sure our guards were doing the same as our bigs. But we had five players block our players out and then pursue today. Losing is heartbreaking and that was probably the biggest reason today. Our team is competitive and they want to win. They listen and are coachable so taking that next step is huge."
Aaliyah Alexander was the team's top scorer with 14 points on 6-of-14(42.9%) shooting.
"We were missing at the beginning, but we came together and we know that everyone is going to knock down those shots," Alexanders described. "We kept shooting and had confidence from our teammates. Our coaches helped us put the ball through the hoop."
Early on, Boise took the lead with a 7-3 advantage, connecting on their jump shots. A jumper from Jaydia Martin brought the lead back to 7-5 at the 4:09 point of the quarter. The Broncos then separated with an 8-0 run to lead by 10. Bella Hays scored late in the quarter to cut the lead down to single digits at 15-7.
Eastern made adjustments in the second quarter, outsourcing Boise St. 21-4. The turnaround was led by six points from Alexander and five from Martin. EWU's defense clamped down and limited the Broncos to 18.2 percent shooting in the quarter. At halftime, Eastern had a 28-19 lead after shooting 44.4 percent in the second.
Alexander opened the Eagles scoring in the third with a three in fast break. Both teams struggled to find consistency on offense as the quarter went on.The Broncos closed the game with eight-straight points and cut the Eastern lead down to 42-39 with one quarter to go. The Eagles had a 26.7 shooting percentage from the floor.
The defense locked down again in the fourth quarter for Eastern, stifling the Boise St. shooters to a 8.3 percent mark from the floor. Jaleesa Lawrence scored six points in the quarter and Jacinta Buckley added five to help separate from the Broncos. EWU shot 60.0 percent in the quarter on the way to a 64-43 win in the game.
Eag Notes
- Eastern forced 22 turnovers and had 11 steals in the game. They converted the turnovers into 26 points. The Eagles committed 11 turnovers of their own. Jamie Loera led the team with four steals.
- Loera finished with a game-high six assists and added six rebounds with five points as well.
- EWU has now won two-straight games against Boise St. after snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Broncos last season.
- The game was Aaliyah Alexander's fifth in which she led or shared the team lead in points scored. She has six double-digit scoring games this season.
- Eastern won the rebounding battle, 42-39, getting 12 offensive rebounds and limiting the Broncos to seven. The team's tied with 24 in the paints, but EWU had a 20 to 4 advantage in second-chance points
- Jaleesa Lawrence finished with 11 points, the second-best total on the team. Jaydia Martin scored 10 points off the bench for the Eagles.
- Bella Hays scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds in the game. She set a new career-high in points and matched her career-best in rebounds.
Up Next
Eastern Washington has a six-day break and stays at home to prepare for Walla Walla on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. from Reese Court
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
