CHENEY, Wash. — Home court advantage was not enough on Saturday afternoon for Eastern Washington women's basketball. Eastern dropped its game to Idaho State, 66-57, as the two teams battled defensively. EWU drops to 2-3 in the Big Sky and 9-9 this season. Idaho St. improves to 4-2 in conference and 11-6 overall.
"I thought we competed and played with urgency in the second half. Unfortunately in the first half, we didn't play with enough toughness to beat a solid Idaho State team," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "We tried to pick up our pressure and force some turnovers that would give us offense from our defense; we were struggling to score. We wanted to amp it up and force them to play fast."
The teams were tied at seven after the first quarter, but the Bengals surged ahead in the second, outsourcing the Eagles by nine. Idaho St.'s offense produced for the rest of the game and held Eastern at arms length. Eastern shot 34.5 percent for the game, while ISU recorded a 37.1 line.
"We knew they were a very physical team. We focused on handling the pressure and driving down hill on them. That was the adjustment we made at halftime," Ella Gallatin explained. "Idaho St. does a good job rebounding, so we knew Kourtney [Grossman] and Jaecy [Eggers] would be busy in the paint. I just tried to be aggressive on the boards and do my part."
Gallatin scored a game-high 22 points on 6-of-12(50%) shooting, with Elyn Bowers adding 16 points on 5-of-11(45.5%).
"We just go game-by-game and try to be locked-in for every opponent. I felt we were prepared for the game, but we just didn't play with toughness early," Gleason added. "If you can't handle Idaho St.'s physicality, they exploit you. They do a really good job defensively and we couldn't find a way to make shots."
Defense was the story of the first five minutes of the game, with Eastern scoring six points and holding the Bengals to nothing. Elyn Bowers had the highlight with a made three. ISU pulled the score back, outsourcing the Eagles 7-1 over the remainder of the quarter. The teams were tied at 7 at the end of the first, with EWU managing only a 15.4 shooting percentage.
The offense picked up in the second quarter as the Bengals opened with a 10-2 run that put them in control, leading 17-9 and 5:18 on the clock. A three from Gallatin brought the Eagles closer 19-14. Idaho St. then extended the lead to 10, 24-14, with 2:10 remaining in the half. At the break, Eastern trailed 27-18, shooting 33.3 percent in the second.
EWU battled to get back into the game, reducing the deficit to four two minutes into the quarter. Caitie Gingras connected on a three and Elyn Bowers found room inside for a layup. The Bengals brought the lead back to eight at 33-25 and 7:20 on the clock. With ISU leading 39-31, the Eagles had a quick 6-0 burst to cut the lead down to a pair at the 2:17 mark. Bowers powered the run with six points. The Bengals countered and rebuilt the lead to seven at the end of the quarter, 44-37. EWU shot 45.5 percent in the quarter.
Gallatin scored first in the fourth quarter, and the lead was down to five at 44-39. ISU scored the next five points to increase the lead to double digits. ISU shot well in the quarter, with a 50 percent clip and scoring 22 points. The Eagles continued to fight in the quarter but could not string enough scores and defensive stops together to tie or take the lead. They shot 30.9 percent and scored 20 points. The Bengals kept their lead and won the road game at Reese Court.
Eag Notes
- Ella Gallatin scored in double figures for the 14th game this season and earned her 3rd 20-point game this season. She has 30 career games in double-digits and 5 20-point games. Gallatin nearly had a double-double, finishing with 9 rebounds.
- Eastern won the rebounding battle, 42 to 37, but narrowly edged the Bengals in scoring inside, 26 to 24.
- Elyn Bowers posted her 15th double-digit scoring game of the season.
- Kourtney Grossman added another double-double and has 11 this season, pulling down 16 rebounds and scoring 10 points today. She has 16 double-digit scoring games and 13 double-digit rebounding games.
- Jaecy Eggers recorded 2 blocks, her 10th game this season with 2+ in a game.
- Idaho State scored 20 points off of 19 EWU turnovers.
- The game featured only 1 lead change and 2 ties.
Up Next
Eastern Washington will be on the road next week for two games. The Eagles play Portland State on Thursday (Jan. 22) for a 7 p.m. Pacific Time tipoff, followed by a matchup against Sacramento State on Saturday (Jan. 24) 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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