SPOKANE, Wash. - Without a
game at Reese Court in more than a month and seven-straight on the road during
that time, it took the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team a
little while to settle in on its home floor. But a strong second-half effort
allowed the Eagles to grab a 58-47 victory over Warner Pacific on Saturday (Dec.
29) in Cheney, Wash.
Eastern,
which has now won four games in a row, improves to 6-5 overall in the 2012-13
campaign. The Eagles will return to Big Sky Conference play next week when they
host league-leading Montana on Thursday (Jan. 3), followed by Montana State on
Saturday (Jan. 5) at Reese Court.
Eastern
shot just 27 percent from the field in the first half against WPC, and made just
4-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Eagles had come into Saturday's game with the
best field goal percentage in the Big Sky at 41.2, and the second-best
percentage from three at 35.3. But some tough defense displayed by the NAIA
school out of Portland, Ore., kept EWU from converting shots on its home
floor.
"We did
not shoot the ball well," said EWU head coach Wendy Schuller. "I was
disappointed in the way we shot it from three and our effort at the free-throw
line. Warner Pacific did a good job of disrupting our rhythm, and grinding us
defensively. They made us play slower than we wanted to in the first half, and
we just did not do a good job on either end of the floor."
The Eagles
scored the first eight points of the game, but Warner Pacific charged back with
a 13-3 run, which gave the visiting team a two-point advantage with under nine
minutes to play in the half. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way,
and went into the locker room in a 25-25 deadlock.
The second
half was better on both ends for EWU, as it shot 43 percent from the field, and
held the Knights to just 8-of-33, including a dismal 0-of-7 effort from long
range. Eastern found its edge by attacking the lane, as it out-scored WPC in
points in the paint, 22-12. The Eagles also had 10 fast break points in the
second period, compared to zero for the Knights.
"At
halftime, we talked about pushing the ball more, getting down the floor and
getting transition baskets," said Schuller. "We were able to get more layups and
more shots in the paint in the second half, which translated into a much better
shooting percentage. We just wanted to push the pace both offensively and
defensively, and it was somewhat effective for us."
The Eagles
scored the first seven points coming out of the locker room, and held onto that
lead rest of the way. They led by as many as 14 midway through the period, but
WPC managed to hang around, and cut it to eight with less than four minutes on
the clock. Junior Aubrey Ashenfelter hit a three to put Eastern back up by
double-digits and sophomore Lexie Nelson sealed it with a layup at the
1:34-mark.
Nelson
ended up with a game-high 19 points - her 10th double-digit performance of the
season. She hit three 3-pointers, while also contributing four rebounds, three
assists and one block. Ashenfelter finished with five points, five rebounds and
four assists.
Sophomore
forward Melissa Williams recorded a season-high eight points to go along with
seven rebounds. Junior Laura Hughes also had seven rebounds, as did
redshirt-freshman Hayley Hodgins, which marked a career-high for the 5-10 guard
out of Pasco, Wash.
Senior
Carrie Ojeda had nine points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal for the
Eags.
