Jan. 18, 2007

Final Stats

Five- and eight-minute scoring droughts served as the downfall of the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team on Thursday night (Jan. 18). Northern Arizona University went on 12-0 and 21-0 scoring runs in those time spans to pull away from the Eagles for a 76-51 win in the Big Sky Conference game. 

The Eagles (6-12, 1-4 BSC) saw two players score in double figures: Sydney Benson (12) and Leah Gonnella (10). Benson added a game-high 10 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the season, while Gonnella's point total was her second-highest of the season (she had 15 versus Corban College on Nov. 17).

The beginning of the game was close as the Eagles scored the first three points of the contest and would go up by six on two occasions (16-10 and 18-12) before NAU (11-7, 4-1 BSC) rallied with 12 straight points over the next 4:46. The Lumberjacks scored the first five points of their 21-0 run at the end of the first half to go into the locker room up on the Eagles, 37-25. Following the break, NAU finished off its 21-0 run to go up, 53-25.

The Lumberjacks advanced to their first NCAA Tournament in school history last year and moved up to third place in the Big Sky standings with their win.

The Eagles conclude their stretch of five road games out of six to open Big Sky play this Saturday (Jan. 20), taking on Big Sky newcomer Northern Colorado at 1:05 p.m. PT. The Bears dropped to 3-14, 0-5 in Big Sky play, with an 81-63 home loss to Portland State tonight. Eastern will return to the friendly confines of Reese Court the following Friday (Jan. 26) to take on Weber State at 7:05 p.m.