CHENEY, Wash. — Coming off a tough loss on Thursday, Eastern Washington women's basketball found its composure Saturday. Eastern defeated Montana, 61-56, after holding off a late rally from the Grizzlies. EWU improves to 7-2 in the Big Sky and 17-5 overall.
"We have been in that position before where we've had a lead and a lot of teams to come back. We've been able to fight back and secure the win with just that experience of knowing we can do it," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "This is a really good Montana team. They started going through [Carmen] Gfeller inside in the second half; she did a nice job there. We answered with nice defensive rotations to make things tougher down the stretch. Montana can really shoot the ball and we knew that going in. We were making sure to defend with urgency at the three-point line so there were not any open looks. They had a few but we mixed it up a little bit. We tried not to do the same thing all the time so they could predict it. Our players responded well with how we changed how we were defending. The first half, second half and in the middle of a quarter. That was huge growth for us to be able to mix up our defenses and make those adjustments mid-game. [Jaleesa Lawrence] is doing everything for us. She plays out of position, defending post players, centers, forwards and point guards. She can guard anybody up and down their line up."
There was balanced scoring for the Eagles, as Jamie Loera led with 19 points, followed by Jaleesa Lawrence's 18 and Aaliyah Alexander's 17.
"I was focusing on getting rebounds and stops then that also translates to the offensive side. I told my teammates before the game to remind me to have fun, let's go and play today," Lawrence said. " We mainly just continued coming to practice and doing the same thing. The two losses don't define us. We were talking about our streak being broken, but we set a record. I think rather than seeing it as a setback it is a learning opportunity for us."
Both Eastern and Montana worked their offense in the opening quarter, as the Eagles had a slim, 9-6 lead at the 6:20 point. The Grizzlies tied the game at nine before taking the lead with another three. Loera took control with two driving layups to put Eastern back in front. EWU held a 15-12 lead after the first quarter, shooting 46.7 percent.
The Grizzlies stayed close to start the second quarter, tying the score at 17 and 7:51 on the clock. They took a 20-19 lead at 5:47, but Lawrence quickly responded with a layup. The score started an 8-0 run from Eastern and they led 27-20 with 3:29 left in the half. EWU pushed its lead to 32-22 at the end of the half, getting eight points from Lawrence and shooting 41.2 percent.
Eastern continued to be smart with its offense in the third quarter, keeping the Grizzlies at arm's length. Loera and Lawrence were able to score for the Eagles, going both inside and outside. EWU finished with a 50 percent shooting mark for the quarter and led 50-42.
The Eagles' offense bogged down in the fourth quarter, shooting only 15.4 percent. After scoring at the 8:06 point on a Loera layup, EWU did not score again until 2:23 was left in the game. Fortunately, Eastern's defense limited the Grizzlies, but the lead was cut down to one at 52-51 before Lawrence converted one-of-two free throws. Two more free throws from Alexis Pettis gave EWU a 55-51 advantage with 2:06 on the clock. With 52 seconds remaining, Montana again reduced the deficit to one. Alexander came up clutch with a turnaround jump shot to keep the lead intact. She next converted two free throws to build a 59-54 lead. The Eagles had stopped the Montana rally and won the game 61-56, shooting 38.6 percent overall for the game.
Eag Notes
- Jamie Loera posted her second double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. She added three assists, two steals and two blocks as well.
- The teams were tied in rebounds with 37 each. Eastern won the battle in the paint, out-scoring the Grizzlies, 26 to 16.
- Jaleesa Lawrence now has six games this season scoring 15-plus points.
- Aaliyah Alexander has scored in double figures in 18 of the team's 22 games.
- Eastern held Montana without a fast break point.
- EWU held Montana to 9-of-34(26.5%) three-point shooting.
Up Next
The Eagles have quick turnaround as they host Portland State on Monday (Feb. 5), with tipoff at 6 p.m.
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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.
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