Eastern women fall to Washington

For one half, it was obvious the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team was playing nationally prominent Washington, which was making its first appearance at Reese Court since 1990.

In the second half the Eagles were just playing basketball.

After shooting 26 percent and trailing by 13 at halftime Tuesday night, EWU rallied to throw a scare into the Huskies before UW pulled out a 67-59 win.

“Our confidence grew as the game went on,” Eastern coach Wendy Schuller said. “Our defense produced some offense, and after a while you forget who you’re playing.”

Eastern (3-1) went on a 15-1 run early in the second half to tie the game at 42. Jill Bell, who had 15 points and 13 rebounds, responded with a quick basket to put the Huskies ahead for good.

Then UW (1-2) got the ball in a scramble after an EWU miss, and Emily Florence ended up with an uncontested layup. Bell followed with a putback for a 48-42 lead, but the Eagles wouldn’t go away until the final minutes.

“We’re out of sync, no doubt about it,” UW coach June Daugherty said. “But down the stretch I thought the most important thing was we showed our poise. We got down and played Husky defense and got the stops we needed. That and the offensive putbacks late in the game sealed things up for us.”

UW had 25 offensive rebounds and pounded the Eagles on the board 60-42. The Huskies were also 21 for 35 from the free-throw line to 13 for 21 for Eastern.

After Eastern scored the first basket of the game, the Huskies ran off 12 straight points. All-American candidate Cameo Hicks hit a layup and a 3-pointer to spark the surge.

Hicks had a personal run of eight consecutive points that pushed the lead to 35-20 with 5:26 to go. She converted a three-point play, made two free throws and swished a 3-pointer from the right wing.

The Huskies, who shot 30 percent in season-opening losses to Marquette and 12th-ranked Purdue, shot 41 percent in the first half and could have had a much bigger lead if they didn’t have 18 of their 29 turnovers.

“We knew Eastern was going to come out hard,” said Hicks, who had 20 points. “It was a game of runs. Eastern made a run in the second half. We made our run in the first half.”

Sydney Benson, a 6-foot-2 forward, was an important part of the Eastern comeback against the bigger Huskies. The sophomore from Snohomish, Wash., scored eight of her career-high 12 points to go with 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Slight guard Phynique Allen continually attacked on her way to 14 points.

“We might have come out a little bit slow, but we played hard,” Benson said. “Coach said if we keep the effort up we’ll get back in the game. It’s all about effort.”

Eastern shot 42 percent in the second half and held the Huskies to 25 percent.

“Sometimes the play is not always pretty,” Daugherty said. “But we got the ‘W,’ that’s the good thing.”

Gonzaga 76, PSU 59

Senior Stephanie Hawk scored 20 points, hitting 9 of 10 from the line, and the Bulldogs (4-1) defeated the Vikings (1-3) in non-conference play at Portland.

The Bulldogs hit 13 of 15 free throws during the final 6 minutes of the first half.

Vivian Frieson had eight rebounds to lead GU’s 49-33 advantage.