Eastern Washington women miss buzzer-beater against Montana State, lose 62-61
From staff reports
Jaydia Martin missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Eastern Washington lost to Montana State 62-61 in a Big Sky women’s basketball game Thursday at Reese Court in Cheney.
The Eagles led all of the fourth quarter until Natalie Picton’s free throw tied the game at 59 with 1:34 left. Taylor Janssen hit a 3-pointer 36 seconds later to give the Bobcats a 62-59 lead.
Eastern got back within one point with 45 seconds to go on Jamie Loera’s layup.
Montana State missed a 3-pointer on its next possession. Trailing by one point, the Eagles had one last inbounds play after a timeout with 4.8 seconds to go. But Martin’s 3-point attempt in front of the Eagles’ bench hit off the back iron.
The loss was the second in a row for Eastern (16-5, 6-2 Big Sky), which dropped to third place in the conference standings behind Northern Arizona (15-6, 7-1) and Montana (15-5, 7-2).
Marah Dykstra scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Bobcats, who improved to 12-10 overall and 6-3 in the Big Sky.
Loera led the Eagles with 15 points, along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. EWU’s Aaliyah Alexander scored 14 points, making 5 of 15 shots from the field, and Alexis Pettis came off the bench to score nine points.
Montana State has won eight consecutive games against EWU in Cheney.
The Eagles host Montana at 2 p.m. Saturday at Reese Court.