Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
WSU freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker drives on EWU freshman Aaliyah Alexander. WSU knocked off the Eagles 76-52 last week.
PULLMAN – The Eastern Washington women's basketball team (1-6) hung tough with a Washington State squad that nearly upset No. 8 Oregon a day prior for a quarter, but sharp shooting from WSU and turnovers from EWU allowed the Cougars to pull away in the final three frames for a 73-52 Wazzu win Dec. 22.
Former Liberty High School standout freshman Maisie Burnham, whose hometown of Spangle is located roughly halfway between Cheney and Pullman, scored a career-high 16 points and snared eight rebounds for the Eagles.
EWU held a lead twice in the first quarter behind baskets from sophomores Kennedy Dickie and Jenna Dick. WSU came back and grabbed a 16-13 lead after the first quarter it wouldn't relinquish, extending its lead to 33-20 by halftime.
The Cougars then outscored EWU 40-32 in the second half.
"That's a really good basketball team we just played – smart and savvy and they really play as a team," EWU head coach Wendy Schuller said. "It was good to see us stand up in moments and execute and make plays."
WSU improved to 4-1, with its only loss being the aforementioned narrow defeat to one of the best teams in the country, Oregon. The Cougars were balanced against EWU, with four players scoring in double-figures and nine players scoring points.
Ula Motuga led with 13 points, while Charlisse Leger-Walker added 12. The Cougar bench outscored EWU's 32-4.
WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge complimented EWU's post defense and said her team wasn't always clicking offensively, despite the balanced scoring output.
It took us a while to get going, and I don't know if we ever were truly tremendous on the offensive end. Credit to Eastern, they caused us some trouble in the post," Ethridge said. "There is always something you can find to get better at. I'm just really happy with our performance and the fact that we were able to play so many people off our bench today."
EWU returns to action Dec. 31 at Portland State, while WSU will head to Salt Lake to take on Utah Jan. 1.
– Drew Lawson can be reached at drew@cheneyfreepress.com.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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