by BERKELEY, Calf.— The road can be difficult at times and Eastern Washington women’s basketball experienced it on Friday morning. Eastern lost to Cal, 78-70, in Berkeley despite leading the Golden Bears after three quarters. EWU’s record now stands at 6-3.
Jacinta Buckley led the team with 16 points on 6-of-12(50.0%) shooting, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Aaliyah Alexander added 13 points on 5-of-12(41.6%) shooting.
“This was a great atmosphere for Cal’s Education game with 4,000 screaming kids. The Eags represented the Big Sky and EWU well in this Pact-12 matchup,” head coach Joddie Gleason said. “It is disappointing to take a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter and lose this game. Cal really did a good job of pounding the ball inside and scored 16 points in the paint in the fourth. We didn’t have an answer. Jacinta Buckley dominated for us and stepped up to score 12 of her 16 points in the first half for us. We had nice contributions offensively from a bunch of people. We just need to find a way to rebound and defend when it gets physical down the stretch.”
Cal made the opening statement in the game, quickly going up 6-0 on EWU in the first three minutes. The Golden Bears extended their lead to 10 at the 5:08 point, leading 15-5. Eastern remained composed and looked for open shots. Trailing 21-13 and 1:34 left on the clock, Eastern organized a 7-2 run to cut the lead down to three at the break. Buckley connected for three, three-point shots in the quarter to carry the offense and EWU trailed 23-20 after one.
The game remained close to start the second quarter, with two ties between the Eagles and Golden Bears. Cal found some separation to lead 31-26 at the 3:53 mark in the quarter. The Eagles then turned on the afterburners, launching a 12-0 run to build a 38-31 lead with 22 seconds on the clock. Jaydia Martin scored four points during the stretch. EWU went into the half leading 38-33 after shooting 44.4 percent from three in the quarter.
Eastern continued to score well and pushed their lead out in the third quarter. The team went up by 12 at the 5:28 mark on a layup from Jamie Loera. With 2:50 minutes left on the clock, the Golden Bears cut the lead down to six at 52-46. The Eagles responded with a 7-0 burst to close the quarter and lead 59-46. Alexander closed the quarter strong with a three to build the 13-point advantage.
Alexander connected with an early jumper to extend the Eagle lead to 61-46 in the fourth quarter. Cal began to whittle the lead down and take advantage of Eastern’s turnovers. The Golden Bears reduced the lead to three with 5:32 left in the game at 63-60. Alexander scored at the Eagles next possession to end what was a 10-0 run for Cal. The Golden Bears then went on a 8-1 run to take the lead and 2:13 on the clock. EWU tied the score at 68 on another Alexander layup, but Cal ripped off another 8-0 run to take control of the game. They went on to defeat Eastern, 78-70.
Eag Notes
- Jacinta Buckley’s 16 points was a season-high for the senior.
