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Jan. 3—It took the Eastern Washington women's basketball team about a half to adjust to the physicality of Idaho on Saturday at Reese Court in Cheney.
Eventually, the Eagles did. But their second-half rally never quite culminated in a lead change, and the Vandals held on for a 69-63 victory in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.
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"I thought we did a nice job of competing in the second half to get it to one bucket," EWU head coach Joddie Gleason said. "But at that point it's total-execution time. We needed to value the ball and and make sure we get a good look every time."
Down as many as 14 points early in the second half, Eastern clawed back into the game: A pair of free throws by Bella Hays capped an 8-0 run that cut Idaho's lead to 55-52 with just under 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
"I think we forced a lot in the first half," EWU freshman Elyn Bowers said. "Then come the second half, when we went on a big run, we were really patient, we moved the ball and we executed."
Three minutes after Hays' free throws, Bowers was fouled attempting a 3 and made all three free throws to draw the Eagles within a point, 58-57.
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But from that point on, the Eagles (7-7, 0-1 Big Sky) committed four turnovers and only attempted five shots from the field. Idaho (10-4, 1-0) made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal its victory.
Sophomore Ana Pinheiro led the Vandals with 15 points, while senior Kyra Gardner finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double in her last five games.
Eastern Washington sophomore Kourtney Grossman grabbed 22 rebounds, one shy of her season-high and two shy of the Big Sky's single-game record since the league first sponsored women's basketball in 1988-89. Grossman has recorded each of the league's top five individual single-game rebounding totals this season and leads the league in rebounding average at 12.9 per game.
Bowers led the Eagles in scoring with 20 points, making 7 of 14 shots from the field. Grossman added nine points.
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The Eagles have been balanced offensively all season, with four players — Grossman, Bowers, senior Ella Gallatin and sophomore Jaecy Eggers — averaging between 12 and 14 points. But Eggers struggled Saturday, making 0 of 13 shot attempts. It was the second time Eggers has been held scoreless in 39 career starts.
Both the Eagles and Vandals head to Montana this week to play the Grizzlies and Bobcats as they continue Big Sky play.
"In order to win against really good teams," Gleason said, "you have to show up with toughness. You have to be able to finish through contact. You have to be able to get downhill and handle aggressive defense and continue to finish, and in the first half we shied away from it. It felt like in the second half we did a much better job, so hopefully we'll learn from that and start the game like that."
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