The regular season is complete and now it's now onto the Big Sky Tournament for Eastern Washington women's basketball. The postseason will take the Eagles to Boise, Idaho for five days (March 4-8) at the Idaho Central Arena. Eastern is the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will be facing the No. 5 seed Montana in the team's first matchup on Monday, March 6 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.

All Big Sky women's basketball tournament games will be streamed on ESPN+, with the championship game airing live on ESPNU. Listen to Eastern's games live on 700-AM ESPN or the Varsity Network app with the voice of the Eagles, Larry Weir. Live stats can be seen through the Big Sky on the link HERE.

Fans can purchase tickets to the Big Sky Tournament to see the Eagles on the court by clicking the link HERE.

Award Season
Three Eagles earned All-Conference honors on Thursday (March 2), highlighted by Jamie Loera who was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year. Loera earned All-Conference as well, placing on the third team.

Jaydia Martin picked up her second All-Conference award with a third team selection.

Jacinta Buckley also grabbed her second award with an All-Conference honorable mention.

Last Time Out
Eastern Washington closed out the regular season with a road game against Montana State (2/27). The Eagles defeated the Bobcats for the second-straight season in Bozeman, winning 78-65. The Bobcats had a 12-point lead after the first quarter, but Eastern used an 18-0 run in the second to tie the game at 31 going into halftime. With momentum in their favor, the Eagles built a lead over Montana St. in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth. From the floor, Eastern held the Bobcats to 34.4 shooting, while recording a 40.0 percentage of their own. 

The scoring was balanced for the Eagles, with five players in double figures. Aaliyah Alexander poured in 21 points and Jaleesa Lawrence followed with 15 of her own. Jacinta Buckley scored 13 points and added 12 rebounds for the double-double. Jamie Loera and Gabrielle Jung made it five with 11 and 10 points respectively.

A Look at the Eagles
Eastern went 11-7 in the Big Sky during the regular season and has an 18-10 overall record. The team has improved its win total from last season by nine games, tied for the second-best year-to-year improvement in program history.

This season, the Eagles rank fourth in both points per game (69.9) and points allowed per game (63.1) in the Big Sky. The team has the second ranked scoring margin at plus-6.7. With a 41.7 shooting percentage, Eastern is third in the Big Sky. Where Eastern sets itself apart is in turnovers, leading the league with a plus-4.1 margin and a 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Additionally, the Eagles record 8.9 steals per game to lead the conference and have 14.9 assists per game to rank second.

Jamie Loera is the conference leader in steals, averaging 2.5 a game with 71 total this season. Loera's 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is the top mark in the conference. She averages 5.0 assists per game – third in the Big Sky - with 140 total this season. The graduate transfer scores 11.0 points per game and pulls down 6.0 rebounds per game ranking 18^th and 12^th in the conference respectively. During conference games, Loera averages 6.3 rebounds per game to rank 10^th.

Stepping into a major scoring role, Aaliyah Alexander is second on the team with 12.2 points per game. In conference games, Alexander has increased her average to 13.3 in 15 games. The redshirt-sophomore is shooting 40.8 percent from the floor and 36.6 from three-point range. She has scored 20-plus points in two of the past three games, including matching her career-high against Montana St. Alexander is second on the Eagles with 41 made threes.

Bringing the effort at both ends of the court, Jacinta Buckley is the Eagles' leading rebounder, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, listed at eighth in the Big Sky. Buckley recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against Utah State (12/20) earlier this season. The junior averages 10.8 points per game, third on Eastern, and has three double-doubles this season.

Jaydia Martin is the team's leading scorer with 16.1 points per game and is shooting 42.2 percent this season, 37.9 percent from three. She has 51 made threes this season and is third on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game.

Scouting the Grizzlies
Montana posted a 10-8 record in conference this season, going 14-15 overall. The Grizzlies closed the regular season with an 85-82 win over Idaho in Missoula (2/27). Montana is second in the Big Sky with a 70.5 points per game average, while allowing 68.9 points per game. The Grizzlies average 3.3 blocks per game to rank second in the conference.

Redshirt-senior forward Carmen Gfeller carries the scoring load for Montana with 13.6 points per game to lead the team and rank ninth in the Big Sky. In the paint, sophomore forward Dani Bartsch averages 7.9 rebounds per game that ties her for fourth on the conference leaderboard.

Series History
In program history, Eastern Washington is 20-70 against Montana, with a 13-27 home record and 7-41 on the road. The teams split games with Eastern winning in Missoula (87-60) and losing in Cheney (70-81).

In the Big Sky Tournament, Eastern is 0-4 against the Grizzlies. The teams last played in 2015 tournament semifinals, with Montana winning 55-51.

Up Next
With a win on Monday, Eastern Washington would advance to the tournament semifinals on Tuesday, March 7 to play either the No. 1 seed Northern Arizona, the No. 9 seed Northern Colorado or the No. 10 seed Weber State.