by PORTLAND, Ore.— The opening statement of the Big Sky slate has been made as Eastern Washington defeated Portland State, 68-58, tonight. Eastern struggled on offense in the second quarter, but found a rhythm in the second half to beat the Vikings on the road. EWU is now 1-0 in conference play and 9-3 overall, currently riding a three-game winning streak.
“I’m really proud of the way we stuck together when things weren’t always easy. We came out shooting really well in the first quarter and then went cold in the second and fourth. That did not affect the way we defended,” head coach Joddie Gleason said. “We had an excellent team effort to hold PSU to 23 points in the second half on a 29 field goal percentage. When we secure road wins in the Big Sky Conference, it is always a big deal.”
The Eagles had a pair of scorers to lead the effort, with Aaliyah Alexander posting a game-high 21 points and Jacinta Buckley following with 18.
Jamie Loera filled up the box score, recording seven steals to match the program record for a single game. Loera had nine assists, eight rebounds and five points as well.
“Jacinta [Buckley] and Aaliyah [Alexander] were huge for us offensively when we needed it,” Gleason added. “Jamie [Loera] was absolutely outstanding at both ends of the court, pulling down eight rebounds with seven steals. All of this while running the point guard position and dissecting their zone defense with some amazing passes. On to the next game at Sacramento on Saturday. Go Eags!”
The game started as a back-and-forth contest, as both teams put points on the board early. The Eagles took the lead at 7-6 following a jumper from Alexander. Eastern stretched the lead out to seven at 18-11 with 3:41 on the clock. Buckley provided four points to help build the lead. The Vikings stormed back, closing the half with a 12-2 run to take the lead, 23-20. EWU shot 47.1 percent in the opening quarter.
Eastern tied the game early in the second quarter at 25, with Buckley connecting on a two-point jumper. A 4-0 burst from PSU put them back in front and they extended their lead to as much as seven during the quarter. Trailing 35-28 with 2:30 left in the half, Ellie Boni hit a short jumper and Milly Knowles converted a layup inside, as time expired, to cut the Viking’s lead down. The Eagles trailed 35-32 at the half, despite shooting just 23.8 from the floor in the quarter.
Out of the half, the Eagles stayed close to PSU, tying the score within the first minute at 35. The Vikings then found a groove on offense, going on a 9-0 run to seemingly take control in the game at the 5:03 mark. After leading by 10 at 48-38, EWU ripped off its own 9-0 run to cut the lead down to one. Following a PSU free throw, Buckley earned another layup to tie the game and 59 seconds on the clock. Jaleesa Lawrence handed the Eagles the lead with two seconds left on a jumper. Eastern now had the lead, 51-49, recording a 44 shooting percentage in the third.
EWU pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Vikings 17-9 and shooting 36.4. Six Eagles scored in the quarter, with Knowles accounting for six points. Eastern tightened up its defense, limiting PSU to 25.0 shooting from the floor. EWU ended with a 68-58 win and had a 37.3 shooting percentage for the game.
