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Eastern Washington University Basketball

Eastern Washington women receive No. 14 seed, travel to play at No. 3 seed Oregon State

Eastern women’s basketball players Jamie Loera, left center, Milly Knowles and Gabrielle Jung explode from their seats at Barrelhouse Pub and Pizza in Cheney Sunday. (DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
Eastern women’s basketball players Jamie Loera, left center, Milly Knowles and Gabrielle Jung explode from their seats at Barrelhouse Pub and Pizza in Cheney Sunday. (DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review

Gathered with teammates, coaches, families and friends Sunday at Barrelhouse Pub and Pizza in Cheney, the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team didn’t have to wait long to erupt in cheers.

Just six minutes into the selection show, when Oregon State’s name came on the big screen as a No. 3 seed, the crowd grew notably quiet before Eastern Washington’s name came up next as a No. 14 seed.

And then it got loud.

The Eagles were headed to Corvallis, Oregon.

“Joy,” redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Alexander said of the moment. “We were on the big screen with our fans and community behind us. It felt so good.”

In its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1987, Eastern will play the Beavers on Friday. The winner will advance to play either No. 6 Nebraska (22-11) or No. 11 Texas A&M (19-12), the other matchup in the Corvallis pod.

“It was amazing,” EWU third-year head coach Joddie Gleason said of the moment. “I loved seeing the expressions on the faces of our team. (They have) just a joy and love for each other. This is an amazing experience for our players and coaches just to have a culmination to our season with the ability to go to the dance.”

The Eagles (29-5) enter the tournament on a 13-game winning streak and face a Beavers team (24-7, 12-6) that finished fourth in the Pac-12 Conference, a league that has seven teams in the 68-team tournament field.

That includes three other teams – No. 1 USC, No. 2 UCLA and No. 2 Stanford – hosting first- and second-round games. Utah and Colorado each earned a No. 5 seed; Arizona, seeded 11th, will play in the First Four.

“Oregon State is really, really good. They have an incredible amount of size and some really strong guard play as well,” Gleason said. “They’ve been battle tested (in the Pac-12). It’s going to be a tough battle for us, for sure.”

Including Big Sky Tournament games, Eastern went 19-2 in league play and 10-3 against other teams. Just four teams in the field have won more games so far this year than the Eagles have.

This is not an entirely unfamiliar matchup for the Eagles: They met in Nov ember 2022 in Corvallis, a game the Beavers won 73-66.

Senior Jamie Loera watched the selection show until all 68 teams had been revealed, eager to see how the bracket shook out. This is Loera’s second trip to the NCAA Tournament; she was at Arizona State for its run to the Sweet 16 in 2019.

“I think it’s just super fun to watch, and it’s cool to see all the other teams excited,” she said. “It’s just a really cool moment for people to have and share with one another.”