BOISE, Idaho – At halftime of Eastern Washington’s opening Big Sky Tournament game against Northern Colorado on Monday, the Eagles were in trouble.
UNC guard Neenah George had dominated the first half, getting to the free throw line at will, scoring eight straight points during one stretch and finishing with 11.
Eastern Washington had struggled to score, making just 1 of 10 3-point attempts, and the Eagles went into halftime trailing 31-20 and 20 minutes from their second straight one-and-done appearance in Boise after winning the whole thing in 2024.
There’s no shame in a championship hangover, particularly because that 2024 team, in addition to being one of the finest Big Sky squads of the past decade, also featured nine upperclassmen in crucial roles and one star sophomore, Aaliyah Alexander, who transferred out of Cheney before exhausting her eligibility.
Two years on from that triumph, only four players from the 2024 title team remain on the roster, and only two – guard Ella Gallatin and post Bella Hays – play real minutes.
But for 20 straight minutes in the second half on Monday, the Eagles’ young group channeled the attitude and physicality of the 2024 team in a sensational second-half effort.
Jaecy Eggers and Caitie Gingras keyed a 6-0 run to start the second half, Elyn Bowers’s layup with three minutes, 34 seconds remaining gave EWU its first lead, and when Northern Colorado missed both a wide-open 3-pointer and a put-back attempt on the final possession, the Eagles escaped with a gritty 55-53 win.
The result put head coach Joddie Gleason and her team in the semifinals for the third time in the past four seasons.
“They just had a relentless drive to win,” Gleason said. “We didn’t want to finish our season. They love each other. They played for each other, and we weren’t ready to be done. We had so many tough, tight games throughout the year, and so we were prepared for that. You know, it only takes one more point than what the opponent has. So, it wasn’t always pretty, but I just love the way we gutted it out.”
The win came despite Eastern Washington shooting just 4 of 20 from beyond the arc and attempting seven free throws to UNC’s 16.
Instead, the sixth-seeded Eagles grinded on defense, crashed the glass relentlessly and got big shots at big moments to oust the third-seeded Bears.
On the biggest stage of the season, it was a performance that had all the hallmarks of a veteran team – yet it came from a roster that had just one upperclassman (Gallatin) playing over five minutes.
Instead, it was sophomores Kourtney Grossman and Caitie Gingras matching Gallatin for the team lead with 11 points, with Gingras canning three of the Eagles’ four 3-point makes on the night.
“If (the coaches) have belief in me, then I believe in myself, and I just gotta let it fly,” Gingras said. “I think that’s something that’s helped us all season long, is that we know what each other can do, and we trust each other.”
It was a sophomore, 6-foot-2 forward Eggers, who battled the Bears’ double-barreled post tandem of Tatum West and Aniah Hall, finishing with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds and helping hold Hall and Tatum to a combined 12 points (although Tatum, a junior, pulled down 18 rebounds in an incredible effort).
“We played them twice before, and it’s a battle every time,” Eggers said. “We knew calls weren’t going to happen every time either, so we just needed to zone in on boxing out and timing our jumps to be able to get the ball.”
And it was a freshman, Bowers, who fought through a tough shooting night – she finished 5 of 17 from the field – to put the Eagles ahead to stay in the fourth quarter.
“Last year we had a couple freshmen that started,” Gleason said. “This year, we have another freshman, three sophomores starting, so we’re a pretty young group. I think sometimes in those situations it takes a little more time, so we’ve been patient and just recognizing that they needed to grow and to learn, and they’re ready.”
Those are the names that Gleason pictured leading the Eagles’ rebuild – just maybe not this year quite yet.
After all, even though Bowers averaged 14.5 points per game this year, Grossman added 14 and Eggers had 11.2 – lofty production from three underclassmen – EWU still finished 15-17, with nice wins over Nevada, South Dakota and Washington State tempered by blowout losses to Portland and Santa Barbara, a four-game losing streak in the middle of the conference season and an 0-4 record against Idaho and Montana State, the top two seeds.
That made sense – young teams aren’t supposed to know how to win yet. And for 20 minutes Monday, it looked like that was going to be the obituary on the Eagles’ season – until Gleason’s talented underclassmen grew up in a hurry.
“You know, we play a really tough preseason,” Gleason said. “Our conference has prepared us for this. You have to focus on one game at a time, and then it comes down to one quarter at a time, one possession at a time, because that could be the difference in the game. So we really try to instill confidence in them. Let it fly, don’t hold back. Play with confidence, play with urgency every possession. And just try to survive and advance.”
