by Eastern Washington women’s basketball time at the Big Sky Tournament came to end on Tuesday (March 7) as they fell 74-57 to the No. 1 seed Northern Arizona. Eastern ends its tournament stay with a 19-11 record on the season.
“The team competed all the way down the stretch. We tried to apply more pressure on the passing lanes to close the gap in the fourth quarter and I thought our players competed the whole time. That’s the kind of team we are. We aren’t going to give up,” head coach Joddie Gleason said. “You have to tip your hat to NAU. They hit shots and got rebounds. Those were the keys that I could see. The silver lining of the season with injuries was we got some experience for three of our freshman. Hopefully, it will help motivate them going into next season. We had next women up mentality because it was out of our control. We had different lineups and it was just something we had to deal with.”
Aaliyah Alexander scored a team-high, 16 points. Jacinta Buckley scored 15 points and had 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double this season.
Alexander started where she left off form the quarterfinals, making her first three-point shot from the corner. The Lumberjacks found their rhythm, ripping off an 8-0 run to lead 9-3 at the 6:58 point. NAU would push the lead to 12-5 before Alexander would connect with a jumper. Camille Jentzsch hit a jumper from the top of the paint to bring the lead down to 12-9 with 3:11 left in the quarter. NAU again tried to separate with four-straight points, but Jacinta Buckley answered with a long three. After one, the Lumberjacks had a 19-15 lead over the Eagles.
Eastern shot 33.3 percent in the opening quarter, while NAU built its lead behind 53.8 shooting from the floor.
The Lumberjacks scored first in the second quarter, but Buckley again answered with a long three to bring the score to 21-18 with seven minutes on the clock. Jamie Loera forced her way into the paint and made a tough shot off of one foot to cut the lead down to one. Two free throws from Jaleesa Lawrence gave the Eagles the lead at 22-21. NAU followed immediately with a three for a two-point lead and 5:37 on the clock. Jentzsch would get inside for a layup to tie the game at 24. Loera then intercepted the Lumberjacks pass and streak up the court for the easy lay in and Eastern had a two-point lead. The next four points would go for to NAU as they grabbed the lead back. The scoring went back-and-forth, but Buckley would give Eastern a one-point lead with 1:20 left in the half. The Lumberjacks closed the half with four-straight points to lead 34-31.
The Eagles shot 37.5 percent in the second quarter, while NAU had a 43.8 percentage.
NAU would hit a three to begin the third quarter and extend the run to 7-0 for the Lumberjacks. Loera would make one-of-two free throws to end the scoring drought and get Eastern’s first points of the second half. The Eagles found some rhythm on offense as Loera and Buckley both made shots to keep the team in the game. NAU was still scoring well and led 45-38 at the media timeout and 4:33 on the clock. The Lumberjacks would then go on a 7-0 run to build a 52-38 lead with 1:46 left in the quarter. At the end of three, NAU had a 55-40 lead.
In the quarter, Eastern was held to 21.4 shooting from the floor. NAU shot 41.2 percent.
Now in the fourth, Eastern had a 6-2 stretch to get the lead down to 11 at 57-46 and 8:28 on the clock. The offense from the Lumberjacks responded with a 4-1 stretch to keep their double-digit lead. There was no quite in the Eagles as Ella Gallatin connected from three to again bring the lead down to 11. NAU’s shooting was difficult for Eastern to overcome, as they continued to find good looks from the wing. The Lumberjacks went on to win the game 74-57. The Eagles shot 21.1 percent in the third, while NAU closed out the game with a 53.3 percentage.
Eastern struggled from the floor all day, shooting 28.4 combined for the game. Northern Arizona had a 47.5 percentage to advance to the championship game.
Key Statistics
Jacinta Buckley now has 12 career double-doubles with her stat line today. She recorded her second game this season and fourth of her career with three or more made three-point shots.
