by CHENEY, Wash.— There’s no doubt after tonight, Eastern Washington women’s basketball is alone at the top. Eastern defeated Sacramento State, 72-59, on Monday night to claim the conference regular season crown outright. The Eagles finish the regular season with a 16-2 Big Sky record and 26-5 overall this season.
“There are a lot of emotions on senior night. Our team is extremely tight and very cohesive. There were emotions coming into the game. We knew there would be a little bit of that, but we just tried to calm down and make sure we took good shots,” head coach Joddie Gleason said. “We felt like we were settling for the three too much, so we started to try and get to the basket or get the ball into the post. That is something we were focusing on. You want to be playing your best going into the tournament and our players did not want to share anything. To get the win and then get to cut down the nets; I love that they get that experience. This conference is really good. It takes a lot of toughness and now we’re battle tested. We have been in every situation either in the preseason or in the conference. [The Big Sky Tournament] will not be easy; every single game is going to be tough.
Eastern had three players score 14 points including Jaleesa Lawrence, Jamie Loera and Aaliyah Alexander. Jacinta Buckley added 13 points to give the team four players in double figures.
“The win makes it so much sweeter. We know that by taking it one game at a time and we wanted to come out with a win,” Loera explained. “The team wanted to make sure we had a lot of urgency coming into this game. We could not let up on what we’ve been doing and, like I said, it is much sweeter cutting down the net after you win. Coach Joddie talks about “Just Be Us” all the time and how that is our intangible. Every game she puts it up on our white board and we do what we do. That’s how we got to where we are. We make a couple of adjustments in every scout. If we are who we are, the mindset, intangibles and how hard we work, we will be just fine.”
The Eagles started fast against the Hornets, opening with a 7-0 lead. Lawrence led the charge with five quick points. After pushing the lead to 12-3, Sac. St. organized a 6-0 run to cut into Eastern’s advantage. EWU found success in the paint, getting three layups in the final two minutes. They led 18-11 after the first quarter, shooting 42.1 percent.
In the second quarter, the Hornets stayed close to the Eagles, pulling within one at 18-17 at the 7:58 mark. A three from Alexis Pettis and a layup from Loera gave EWU some breathing room. Loera further extended the lead, getting inside for two more layups. With 1:26 on the clock, Sac. St. had cut the lead back to 30-26. Eastern converted two free throws and a fast-break layup from Lawrence handed the team a 34-26 lead at halftime. The Eagles shot 35.3 percent in the quarter.
Eastern began to pull away in the third quarter, beginning with a 12-2 run and built a 46-28 advantage. Buckley scored five points during the run. The Eagles elevated their shooting in the quarter, posting a 69.2 percent mark from the floor. They scored 26 points and outscored the Hornets 26 to 11. After three, EWU led 60-37 with Buckley scoring seven points in the quarter.
Moving to the fourth quarter, Eastern was in cruise control to close out the Hornets. Alexander scored six points for the Eagles and the team shot 35.7 percent. Sac. St. made a push in the quarter, scoring 22 points on 81.8 percent shooting. The deficit was too much for the Hornets to overcome and EWU won the game 72-59. The team shot 44.4 percent overall.
EWU also celebrated senior night, honoring Loera, Buckley, Milly Knowles and Gabrielle Jung pregame.
Gleason reflected on the night and the four seniors, “Milly [Knowles] and Gabi [Jung] were here when we got here. They helped us establish the culture that we really wanted. Then we brought Jacinta [Buckley] in that first year and Jamie [Loera] in the second year. We are just a core group that has played together for two years. Milly and Gabi have been here forever and held it down and bought into what we wanted to do. Culture-wise, that was our number one goal, and we were able to add some puzzle pieces and get some really good players. We are happy with how we were able to get to that point.”
Loera echoed her coaches’ sentiments “This night reminds me of how much support I have. So much love which is so cool and to be able to do that infront of my family is awesome. There is so much love all across the board. We love playing for each other, hyping each other up and we show up for each other every day. No matter what is going on off the court, we show up and let it all go. We are just there and we have each other’s back. This team’s chemistry is very special. You are not going to get that everywhere and it’s cool that we have that.”
