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Jan. 6—Before this season, Joddie Gleason wasn't entirely sure just how much Elyn Bowers was going to play for the Eastern Washington women's basketball team this season.
Bowers, a true freshman, came to Cheney as a celebrated prep athlete at Pinedale High School, where she was an all-state player four years in a row and the Wyoming Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior.
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Playing in the Big Sky has been something of a step up for the 5-foot-8 guard — but the step has hardly been insurmountable.
About halfway through the regular season and as the Eagles (7-7, 0-1 Big Sky) prepare for games at Montana State (on Thursday) and at Montana (on Saturday), Bowers leads her team in scoring at 13.8 points per game while playing more minutes (29.9 on average) than all but two of her teammates.
"In general, on a lot of teams, freshmen don't always play that much," EWU head coach Joddie Gleason said after Eastern's 69-63 home loss to Idaho on Saturday in which Bowers scored a team-high 20 points.
"But we believe in allowing them to play and get better throughout the season," Gleason said, "and we think they are going to be better in a couple years than a transfer (would be)."
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Gleason's history in five years at Eastern backs that up. Jaydia Martin was named Big Sky Freshman of the Year in 2021-22, and Kourtney Grossman won the award last season.
Since 1991, just one other Big Sky program — Northern Arizona — has won as many freshman of the year awards (seven) as Eastern has. The Eagles list also includes Kari Schwenke (1991-92), Kristy Missall ('92-'93), Hayley Hodgins ('12-'13), Delaney Hodgins ('14-'15) and Maisie Burnham ('20-'21).
"It's (about) giving them those opportunities early in the preseason, and we have a lot of grace in allowing them to understand the physicality and the pace it takes to compete at this level," Gleason said. "(Bowers) took over the point guard spot. I think that's pretty rare as a freshman. ... It's hard for a freshman to step in there and do it, but her teammates have her back."
Bowers has started every game so far this year, and her contributions have gone beyond scoring. Her 39 assists are tied with senior Ella Gallatin for the team lead, her 19 steals rank third and her 4.4 rebounds per game fourth.
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"It's definitely a lot faster," Bowers said of the college game. "Everyone's a lot bigger, taller, stronger. But I am looking up to my upperclassmen and falling back on them if I need it."
Grossman knows Bowers' situation well. As a freshman last year, Grossman played almost the same amount of minutes (29 per game) that Bowers is averaging this year. This year Grossman leads the Eagles in minutes (33.2 per game) and leads all Division I players in rebounds per game at 12.9.
"You have to know your role, whatever it may be," Grossman said. "For me, it unexpectedly grew from the preseason to conference play. And I think you have to take that with confidence and step into your role and know that you're doing your best to help the team."
Eastern's six-point loss Saturday to the Vandals — a team picked to finish third, three spots ahead of the Eagles in the Big Sky preseason polls — gave Bowers a clearer sense of what it will take for the Eagles to compete for a conference championship.
"It shows that the Big Sky is tough," she said. "We're going to have to play really great games every game if we want to go far."
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