CHENEY, Wash. — The regular season is over and March is here, which means it's time for postseason basketball. Eastern Washington women's basketball is the No. 6 seed for the 2026 Big Sky Tournament and they face the No. 3 seed, Northern Colorado, on Monday (March 9) at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The third-round matchup tips off from the ICCU Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The Big Sky Tournament first round begins on Saturday (March 7) and concludes with the championship games on Wednesday (March 11). The women's final will tip off at 2 p.m. Pacific Time. and broadcast live on ESPN U or ESPN 2. All other tournament games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats for each game are provided by the Big Sky.
2025–26 Regular Season Recap
The Eagles had a rollercoaster ride of a season, finishing 14-17 overall with a Big Sky record 7-11. Eastern finished the season with a close loss to Big Sky regular season champions Idaho, claiming the sixth seed in the conference tournament.
A memorable moment this season came from a home game against Denver. The Eagles trailed by five with 21 seconds remaining, but erased the deficit with a pair of steals, along with clutch free throws and shooting.
Ella Gallatin delivered the clutch two-point jumper with one second remaining to put Eastern in front and complete the comeback. EWU also defeated Washington State for the first time since 2015, knocking the Cougars off in Pullman. Gallatin scored 22 points to lead the team and
Elyn Bowers added 20.
In conference play, the Eagles finished 7-11, with nine of the team's losses coming by single digits. EWU swept the season series against Montana, Northern Arizona and Portland State, while splitting games against Weber State.
Tournament Outlook
Monday's quarterfinal will rely heavily on rebounds and finishing second chance scoring opportunities. Previously in the season, Northern Colorado shot better from the floor while finishing their second chance opportunities to pull away from the Eagles.
Gallatin and Bowers continue to be major scoring factors and will need to be scoring buckets to help the Eastern win. The Eagles will look for help from the bench to score points as well as rebounds from their bigs to make a deep run in the Big Sky Championship.
Season Series Recap
The Eagles lost two close ones against Northern Colorado this season, keeping both games within single digits.
The Bears took the first matchup at Reese Court 62-71, even with the help of two double digit scoring efforts from the Eagles. Elyn Bowers led Eastern with a career high 26 points, followed by Ella Gallatin with 17. Kourtney Grossman dominated the glass grabbing 11 rebounds. The Eagles held the advantage from three, shooting 31.3% to Northern Colorado's 26.7%.
Northern Colorado proved to best the Eagles again in their matchup in Greeley 65-70. Eastern had three players in double digit scoring efforts. Jaecy Eggers and Kourtney Grossman both grabbed double digit boards to help the Eagles.
Focus on the Boards
The Eagles have found their stride gaining a large rebound margin placing them 20th nationally while maintaining 2nd in the Big Sky. Eastern has an impressive 1,293 rebounds this season averaging 41.71 per game. Kourtney Grossman leads the team with 398 this season. Jaecy Eggers, another threat on the glass, nabbed 285 rebounds this season.
Double-Double Leader
Kourtney Grossman has not only been able to find incredible success on the boards, but can also find her way back to the basket to score. Grossman has an impressive tallying 20 this season, and she has 33 in her career placing her 12.8 average 5th in the NCAA. Adding to her accolades, she broke the Big Sky single season rebound record as well as being a two time Big Sky Player of the week. Her game high 24 points against Portland State as well as career high 23 rebounds against Denver helped her to reach this record.
A Senior's Final Statement
Ella Gallatin is taking her final lap with the Eagles in a hunt to close her senior season with a Big Sky Championship. In her senior season, Gallatin shot an impressive 42 percent from the floor as well as 32 percent from three to score 492 points. She found a career high 26 points at Weber State through her career high 43 minutes.
True Freshman of the Year
Creating ripples on the offense is Freshman Elyn Bowers who can score from just about anywhere. Shooting 40 percent from the floor and 34 percent from three for 455 total points, Bowers is not afraid to pull up contested for three or take on a big in the paint. Bowers had a career high night against Northern Colorado scoring 26 points which she had tied earlier in the week at Northern Arizona. Bowers has had 27 double digit scoring nights, 7 of those being for 20 or more.
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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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