Heartbreak in Pullman as Eags narrowly misses in OT against Cougs

by Junna Base November 9, 2024

PULLMAN, Wash. – An opening night overtime thriller isn’t what most expected from the Eastern Washington-Washington State game, but the game showed two teams in midseason form. WSU emerged with an 83-82 victory over EWU, which required overtime to decide the outcome.

“What we know in our gym that others may not know is that we are a good team. What a great women’s basketball game, especially this early in the year. I love that our kids responded every time Washington St. threw.” “They did a great job,” said head coach Joddie Gleason described. “We were a bit careless with the ball. I think we didn’t expect to be more intense on defense. We need to make sure we address this. The whole game will be a battle, especially against a young team. “That will be trying to get things moving defensively.

Eastern outscored Washington St. in the first half and built a 38-26 halftime lead. After Eastern led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, the Cougars were on their way to a comeback, taking the lead 75-73 late in the fourth quarter. Peyton Howard drove deep and tied the game to force overtime.

Howard scored a game-high 25 points and shot 9 of 17 (52.9%) from the floor.

In extra time Ella Gallatin He hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to give the Eagles the lead. The Cougars’ Astera Tuhina answered with her own three-pointer for a one-point WSU lead with four seconds on the clock. Eastern couldn’t reach the buzzer and the Cougars won their home opener.

EWU suffered from turnovers and had 19 turnovers in the game, which led to 24 points for WSU.

The Eagles had a sizable rebounding advantage, 52 to 37, including 15 on offense.

“We felt like we had some really good plays but we missed them and missed too many free throws,” Gleason explained. “I think we’ll get some action through Peyton [Howard] or by our attackers on the track. Peyton had a great game and we don’t want to base the outcome of the game on her. She kept us in the game with different readings and possibilities.”

Quarterly breakdown

Eastern opened the game with a 35 percent shooting percentage. Ellie Boni And Peyton Howard Each scored five points in the first quarter, with Boni grabbing four rebounds. After one game, EWU had a narrow lead of 17:16 against WSU. The Cougars shot 40 percent in the quarter.

The Eagles continued to display an effective offense in the second quarter, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and a perfect 3 of 3 from three-point range. Alexis Pettis scored five points in the quarter and EWU extended its lead to 38-26 and closed the half with a 7-0 run. The defense held WSU’s shooting percentage to 25 percent.

The Cougars cut the East lead in the third quarter. WSU used a 13-0 run to take its first lead late in the quarter. Breeje Schuler managed to find space and hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to retake the lead for EWU. The Eagles had a 52-51 lead early in the fourth after shooting 40 percent.

The teams battled back and forth in the fourth quarter without creating any separation. The teams drew five times during the game. After WSU tied the game at 70 with 2:31 left, Howard scored a layup to give himself a narrow lead. Eastern had a three-point lead with just over a minute left, but the Cougars cut it with two free throws. With four seconds left, WSU scored for a 75-73 lead. Following the trend of the quarter, it was Howard who provided the answer, driving into the box and tying the game at 75. The teams went into overtime after Howard scored 12 points in the quarter.

Eastern had the lead from the start with a jumper Ella Gallatin 20 seconds after the start of the period. There would be no further scoring until the 2:12 mark as WSU converted two free throws to tie the game. Howard converted two of his own to take the lead again. The lead was short-lived as the Cougars equalized the lead with a layup. A 1 of 2 free throws for WSU gave them a one point lead after a minute. Gallatin got going again and hit a long three-pointer for an 82-80 lead with 20 seconds left in the game. The Cougars’ Tuhina found space on the next possession and hit a three-pointer to give WSU an 83-82 lead. Their defense stepped up and prevented the Eagles from attempting a game-winning shot.

For the game, Eastern shot 45.1 percent and Wash posted a 38.0 mark.

Eag notes

Eastern Washington shot well from three balls, going 10 of 16 (62.5%). Peyton Hward shot 4 of 6 (66.7%) from behind the arc.

Paris Kirk In her Eagle debut, she led all players with 13 rebounds, including four on offense.

Ella Gallatin scored a career-best 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting (40%).

Jacy Eggers scored 11 points and seven rebounds in her first game for EWU.

Despite the rebounding advantage, EWU only outscored WSU 36-32. Eastern’s 15 offensive rebounds actually led to an 18-7 second-chance lead.

Washington St.’s bench beat the Eagles 23-20.

The Cougars had eight blocks ahead of Eastern in the game.

EWU struggled at the free throw line, going 8 of 19 (42.1%).

Next
Eastern hosts Walla Walla for its home opener on Saturday (Nov. 9) with tipoff at 7 p.m.

Season tickets for women’s basketball are now on sale. Reserve your seats at Reese Court for the 2024-25 season by clicking the link You can email [email protected] here or call the ticket office at 509-359-6059.

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ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 varsity sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically gifted students and as an enrichment for student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, a coalition of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

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