CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington women's basketball hosted Northern Colorado for the first of two home games this week. Eastern fell in the matchup to UNC, 50-46, as the Bears overcame the Eagles' lead in the fourth quarter. EWU now falls to 6-8 in the Big Sky and 10-16 overall.
Eastern led by 11 with over six minutes left in the game, but the Bears mounted a furious rally, ending the game on a 15-0 run to get the win. Peyton Howard scored a game-high 13 points to lead the Eagles.
"We had a nice lead in the fourth and we stopped making plays and turned the ball over. UNC did everything that you're supposed to do to come back and win," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "With Northern Colorado, they're going to defend and slow the game down; it's going to be a defensive battle. I thought that we defended well, for the most part, until the fourth quarter when they were able to do whatever they wanted. They got points in transition, off turnovers, inside and got offensive rebounds. They got anything they wanted in the fourth."
The teams were evenly matched to begin the game, with neither creating significant separation. UNC went up 9-5 before EWU stormed back with five-straight points to take the lead. Alexis Pettis had the hot-hand for Eastern, scoring seven points on 3-of-4(75.0%) shooting. Both teams traded scores down the stretch, with the lead changing five times. EWU led 14-13 after one, shooting 50.0 percent in the first.
The second quarter was even more of a defensive battle, with both teams struggling to score. They went scoreless for a 4:18 minute stretch in the middle of the quarter. Eastern shot 18.8 percent scoring six points, while Bears shot 27.3 percent scoring 9 points. At the half, UNC had taken a 22-20 lead.
Points were rare to start the third quarter, with UNC scoring the only basket for the first three-and-a-half minutes. A pair of free throws from Howard broke the scoring drought for EWU at 6:31. After UNC scored a layup, Eastern responded with six-straight points to take the lead. The Bears then tied the game at 28, but Jaecy Eggers responded right back with a layup. The Eagles extended their lead to as much as seven and led 38-33 at the break. The team shot 58.3 percent.
Eastern added to its lead to begin the fourth quarter, as Bella Hays and Rachel Harvey went inside for a pair of layups. Hays made another layup at 6:29 to push the lead to double digits at 46-35. EWU's shooting then went cold and UNC began to reduce the deficit. The lead was down to five at 3:15. The Eagles could not get their shots to fall and the Bears drew closer with another made layup at 2:04. They tied the game on a three and took the lead on the next possession. Eastern missed their tying shot and was not able to reclaim the lead, losing 50-46.
EWU shot 37.7 percent in the game with the Bears recording a 36.7 percentage.
Eag Notes
- Easter won the rebounding battle, posting a 33 to 31 advantage. Kourtney Grossman had a game-high 16, her 13th double digit rebounding game and 6th game with 15 or more rebounds this season. She scored 8 points as well.
- Peyton Howard scored in double figures for the 21st game.
- Bella Hays finished with 2 blocks, her 3rd game this season with 2-or-more blocks.
- Rachel Harvey tallied 5 assists in the game. EWU finished with 12 assists in the game.
- EWU and UNC combined to shoot 4-of-33(12.1%) from three-point range.
Up Next
Eastern Washington completes its homestand on Saturday (Feb. 22) against Northern Arizona, with tip off at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.
Single game tickets for women's basketball are now on sale. Reserve your seats at Reese Court by clicking on the link here, emailing tickets@ewu.edu or calling the ticket office at 509-359-6059.
Join the Eagle Athletic Fund for as low as $50 per year! Support Eagle student-athletes on and off the field while enjoying exclusive EAF perks such as season ticket and tailgating priority, invitations to special events, exclusive access and more. Visit goeags.com/eaf for more information.
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
