Eastern Washington’s Aaliyah Alexander named Big Sky player of the week

Aaliyah Alexander was named Big Sky women’s basketball player of the week Tuesday after leading Eastern Washington to two victories at the start of conference play.

It is the second such honor for the redshirt sophomore this season.

In victories over Portland State and Sacramento State, Alexander totaled 46 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. She also made 16 of 29 shots from the field, including 6 of 11 3-point attempts.

Alexander ranks second in the Big Sky in scoring (16.3 points per game) and third in field-goal percentage (48.7) and free-throw shooting (82.6%).

The Eagles (10-3, 2-0 Big Sky) rank second in the conference in scoring defense (55.2 points allowed per game) and third in scoring offense (72.2).

Weber State forward Dillon Jones was named the Big Sky men’s basketball player of the week for the third time this season.

Big Sky takes one-week break from conference play

Eastern’s women will host Omaha (4-9) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Reese Court in Cheney, the first of two games this week in the inaugural Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. The Eagles will play at North Dakota (3-10) on Saturday.

Eastern’s men (6-7, 2-0 Big Sky) play at South Dakota (8-7) at 5 p.m. Wednesday and host North Dakota State (7-7) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Reese Court.

Teams in the challenge will accrue points to crown a winning conference. Home victories earn a team one point, and road victories earn 1½ points. The conference with the most points with men’s and women’s results combined will be declared the winner.

The conferences expect to continue the challenge next season.

Games played at Big Sky venues will be available to watch on ESPN+. Those hosted by Summit League teams can be seen on the Summit League Network.