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Eastern Washington University Basketball

Eastern Washington women ‘feeling great’ as they await NCAA Tournament seeding

Eastern Washington guard Jamie Loera drives for a layup against Northern Arizona during the Big Sky Tournament championship game Wednesday in Boise. (Courtesy of EWU Athletics)
Eastern Washington guard Jamie Loera drives for a layup against Northern Arizona during the Big Sky Tournament championship game Wednesday in Boise. (Courtesy of EWU Athletics)
By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review

A few days after clinching the program’s first Big Sky Conference Tournament title, the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team is still basking in the glow.

“We’re feeling great,” EWU head coach Joddie Gleason said Friday. “We’re still just walking around with smiles on our faces.”

Sunday, they will gather at Barrelhouse Pub and Pizza to see where they will play in the NCAA Tournament.

“We look at some of the bracketology experts that put things out,” Gleason said, “but we don’t do any preparation until we know for sure.”

Eastern Washington Eagles’ Jamie Loera, left, and Aaliyah Alexander celebrate after winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Wednesday in Boise. The Eagles clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1987. (Courtesy of EWU Athletics)
Eastern Washington Eagles’ Jamie Loera, left, and Aaliyah Alexander celebrate after winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Wednesday in Boise. The Eagles clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1987. (Courtesy of EWU Athletics)

The week ahead is finals week for EWU’s winter quarter. After being in Boise for the Big Sky Tournament, the Eagles players have been working closely with their academic advisor to ensure they are keeping up, Gleason said.

Eastern Washington hasn’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 1987, when the bracket contained 40 teams. The Eagles lost 75-56 at Oregon in the first round.

The selection show begins at 5 p.m. Sunday – all are invited to join the team to watch at Barrelhouse – and where the Eagles land will depend on which teams are given a top-four seed and the right to host the first and second round.

Projections have the Eagles earning a seed somewhere from 12 to 14 with Corvallis (Oregon State), Boulder (Colorado) or Spokane (Gonzaga) as their first-round site. Tournament games will begin Friday and Saturday, with the second-round contests played Sunday and Monday. But projections are merely that.

Eastern has won a program-record 29 games this season. Of its five losses, one came at home against Gonzaga, 82-80; another came at UC Irvine, which won the Big West Conference Tournament championship on Saturday; and a third came at California, which is listed among the “next four out” on ESPN’s Bracketology.