Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Area teams reach NCAA tournament
The Big Sky Conference 2023-24 regular season champion Eastern Washington University Eagles will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987. This year's team from left is, front row, Jaleesa Lawrence, Gabrielle Jung, Andie Zylak, Aaliyah Alexander, Alexis Pettis, Jamie Loera, Devynn Warns, Jaydia Martin, Ellie Boni, Ella Gallatin and Breeje Schuler; back row, Autumn Rollins, Jordan Loera, Skip Gleason, Milly Knowles, Camille Jentzsch, Bella Hays, Cori Wilcox, Jacinta Buckley, Addison Hall, Joddie Gleason, Jordyn Boesel and Brandon Morrison.
The Eagles celebrate their Big Sky tournament win.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - For only the second time in program history, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team is headed to the NCAA March Madness tournament.
The last time the Eastern women made the bracket was in 1987.
Eastern received a No. 14 seed and will play No. 3 seed Oregon State at 5 p.m. Friday, March 22. The Beavers are hosting the game in Corvallis, Ore.
The Beavers finished 16-2 in the Pac-12 and 24-7 overall this season. They advanced to the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, but lost to the No. 2 seed Stanford, 66-57.
The team's success runs through sophomore forward Reagan Beers, who leads the Beavers with 17.7 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game.
The Eagles claimed the Big Sky regular and tournament titles this season, going 16-2 in conference and 29-5 overall.
They defeated No. 2 Northern Arizona, 73-64, in the tournament finals to clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the Eastern women set program records for overall and conference wins, along with posting the Eagles' two longest winning streaks, including its current 13-game streak.
Graduate student Jamie Loera was named the Big Sky Most Valuable Player and defensive MVP, adding first team all-conference and all-defensive team honors.
The Moses Lake native added Big Sky Tournament MVP last week. Aaliyah Alexander joined Loera on the All-Conference first team and Jaleesa Lawrence landed on the second team.
The Eastern women are among four teams from the area to enter March Madness brackets this season.
Both the Gonzaga men and women are in their respective brackets. And the Washington State University men also reached the big dance.
Washington State enters the men's NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed. The Cougars will face No. 10 Drake.
Gametime is 7:05 p.m. today, Thursday, March 21.
Across the bracket, the Gonzaga Bulldog men received a No. 5 seed. They will open tournament play at 4:25 p.m . today against the No. 12-seeded McNeese Cowboys.
The Bulldog women get to stay home to open March Madness.
The Zags, 30-3, are seeded No. 4 and will host No. 13, University of California-Irving.
That game is set for 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 23.
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