CHENEY, Wash. — From start to finish on Thursday night, Eastern Washington women's basketball played its style of basketball. Eastern defeated Weber State, 73-58, behind a complete game effort from the Eagles. EWU improves to 2-2 in the Big Sky and 9-8 overall this season, while Weber State drops to 0-5 in conference and 6-12 overall.
"We felt like there were 3-4 times where we had to respond to really big runs. Weber did a nice job to start the game and there were a few times in the second half when [Weber] amped up the pressure," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "We have to go through these games to get that experience. We've had close games, where teams press and do different things that can happen in a game and this team just continues to grow. Ella [Gallatin] does a great job of keeping the team calm and gets them organized under pressure."
The Eagles outscored the Wildcats in every quarter and shot 41.3 percent from the floor. They went 9-of-24(37.5%) from three-point range. In the paint, Eastern scored 34 points to build a strong inside-outside offensive attack. They held Weber to 36.8 shooting in the game.
"It's really about us growing as a group and recognizing what is a good shot. We don't mind taking shots early in the shot clock if they are good looks. I think we're continuously growing in that area," Gleason explained. "We started moving the ball to the second and third side when they took away the first part of our action. When you do that, you start to get better looks and higher percentage shots. I felt we did that really well tonight. We also got the ball inside; that was also a focus, either off the bounce or feeding it to our post. It was a combination of us making the right reads and moving the ball."
EWU had four players score in double figures, led by Jaecy Eggers' game-high 20 points. Ella Gallatin dropped 18 points, with Kourtney Grossman adding 14 and Elyn Bowers scoring 10.
"I think my teammates did a good job of drawing the defense in, which gave me open shots. I knew my teammates and coaches trusted me and that gave me confidence," Gallatin described. "We go by For Each Other a lot and we all buy into this being a team sport; it's we over me. If someone has an open, better shot, we're all more than willing to make the extra pass and make sure it's a great shot."
The teams were locked in a defensive battle early, as the teams were tied at two a three-minute stretch. The scoring then picked up as the teams traded transition baskets. Weber took control with a 9-0 run and led 14-6 with 2:49 remaining. Eastern had the counter, racing back with an 11-0 run to take a 17-14 lead into the break. Jaecy Eggers scored five points in the stretch, while the team shot 41.2 percent for the quarter.
The Eagles opened the second quarter scoring well again, as Eggers stayed aggressive with a pair of layups. After EWU went up by eight, the Wildcats cut the lead down to four at 7:18. Ella Gallatin knocked down a three to push the lead back up to eight. Gallatin continued to shoot well in the quarter, scoring eight points in the quarter. Eastern extended its lead to 36-27 at halftime, shooting 38.9 percent in the second.
In the third quarter, Gallatin kept her scoring up and Kourtney Grossman found her rhythm on offense. The two each scored six points, all on made three-point shots. Eastern shot 33.3 percent overall but was 5-of-11(45.5%) on three-point shots. Weber shot 41.7 percent, scoring 14 points in the quarter. EWU's lead grew to double-digits at 54-41.
EWU was in cruise control in the fourth quarter, striking for 19 points on 60 percent shooting. The Wildcats stepped up their attack, scoring 17 points on 33.3 percent shooting and 3-of-6(50%) from three. The lead for the Eagles was established in the previous quarters and they secured the home win, 73-58.
Eag Notes
- Eastern Washington dominated the boards, posting a plus-21 rebounding margin (49 to 28). Eastern finished with 16 offensive rebounds, and the team scored 14 points on second chances.
- Jaecy Eggers notched her 3rd double-double of the season, pulling down 11 rebounds. Eggers scored in double figures for the 10th game this season and has 25 in her career, while earning her 4th double-digit rebounding game and 5th career. She also has her 4th 20-point game of the season. Additionally, Eggers matched her career-best with 4 blocks, her 9th game this season with 2+ blocks.
- Kourtney Grossman posted her 10th double-double of the season, after grabbing 14 rebounds. She now has scored in double figures in 15 games and recorded double-digit rebounds in 12 games. She has 35 career games in double figures and 29 in rebounds. Grossman now has 23 career double-doubles
- Eastern forced 16 turnovers from Weber State and scored 19 points on those mistakes.
- Ella Gallatin posted another double-digit scoring game, her 13th of the season and 29th of her career. Elyn Bowers now has 14 games scoring in double figures as a true freshman.
- The Eagles finished with 12 assists in the game, getting 3 from Eggers and Grossman. Gallatin and Bowers each had 2 in the game as well.
- Eastern committed only 13 fouls in the game.
Up Next
Eastern Washington stays at Reese Court for a Saturday (Jan. 17) afternoon matchup against Idaho State, with tipoff at 2 p.m.
Women's basketball season tickets are now on sale! Claim your seats at Reese Court for the 2025-26 season by visiting goeags.com/tickets to purchase online.
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.
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