Eastern Washington women lean on Aaliyah Alexander in decisive 67-44 win over Idaho
MOSCOW, Idaho – Eastern Washington’s women’s basketball team started slowly Saturday, with three turnovers and two missed shots in its first five trips down the floor before Jamie Lorea successfully drove the lane.
But the Eagles regrouped and did just enough better than Idaho to get a lead and protect it. At the half, EWU led 27-16.
In the second half, however, the Eagles leaned on Aaliyah Alexander. She scored 20 of her 27 game-high points as the Eagles pulled away from Idaho for a decisive 67-44 victory.
EWU improved to 13-3 overall, 3-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals (9-6, 2-1) saw a five-game winning streak end.
“I thought they used Alexander really well in the second half,” Idaho coach Carrie Eighmey said. “She is strong, good around the rim,” adding that Alexander took good advantage of ball screens.
The game had everyone on the wrong foot, Idaho Eighmey admitted, after pipes burst in three of the four locker rooms in Idaho’s ICCU Arena – in the men’s and women’s visitors’ rooms and in the Idaho’s women’s locker room.
“It has just been a little bit of a weird day,” she said. “After our shootaround, a couple of pipes burst. We finished our game and (the UI women’s locker room) pipes burst.”
The Vandals were without 6-foot-3 Hope Butera, which significantly hampered them inside. EWU hardly challenging Idaho shooters at the arc.
The Eagles were more concerned with interior defense, giving the Vandals nothing uncontested in the lane, especially Kennedy Johnson, who led Idaho with 14 points.
“They did a great job of squeezing us in the paint,” Eighmey said.
Whenever Idaho shooters tried to attack the rim, they confronted two and three defenders. Eighmey said the Vandals almost never saw a clear path to the basket “without help arriving.”
The Vandals attempted to counter that by kicking out the ball to the perimeter.
“We got some really, really good looks. Lots and lots of open looks,” Eighmey said.
The Vandals’ 3-point shooting, however, struggled. They made 2 of 19 attempts, and the two they hit were late in the second quarter, by Sarah Schmitt and Ashlyn Wallace.
“It was just one of those days. We kind of knew we needed to hit some 3s,” Eighmey said.
The Eagles shot 29 of 66 from the floor (43.9%). Idaho shot 15 of 49 (30.6%).
The Vandals also lost to rebounding battle 45-28. EWU finished with a 15-5 edge on the offensive glass, which contributed greatly to a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint.
“Offensive rebounds killed us,” Eighmey said.