CORVALLIS, Ore. — What will go down as the greatest season in Eastern Washington women’s basketball history came to an end on Friday. No. 14 Eastern lost to the No. 3 Oregon State, 73-51, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.. EWU finishes its historic season with a record of 29-6 overall.
“I just want to congratulate Oregon State. They came out and played a great game. I thought we started the game pretty strong, and then that second quarter; they just started to get it to [Raegan] Beers. She’s just such a great player, and we struggled to stop her a little bit there,” head coach Joddie Gleason said. “They just kind of cranked it up defensively a little bit as well. But I’m super proud of our team. This team has cemented themselves as the best team in Eastern Washington women’s basketball history. And we just love every one of them. And that’s what I told them when we went in there, and I’m just super proud of the entire season and this game as well.”
Jamie Loera left it all on the court, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 10-of-23(43.5%) shooting.
“I’m just super proud of our team and what we accomplished, breaking records and making history .That wasn’t really on our goals this season, but it just happened,” Loera reflected. “I think it’s just something to highlight and be really proud of. Just as an older player, I’m just proud of the growth that I’ve seen from my teammates and just being a part of that and helping them, supporting them anyway I can. It has been a really amazing experience. And, yeah, even just Jaydia [Martin] right here. She’s grown a lot since I’ve been here the past couple years, and I’m just super proud of her and what she’s been through and what she’s battled through. So, yeah, it’s been a great season, and definitely, definitely proud to be an Eag.”
Eastern set the tone early, jumping out to a 7-4 lead as Loera had her shot working early with five points. The teams stayed close through the majority of the first quarter. With 2:04 on the clock, Jaydia Martin hit a three to put the Eagles up 16-10. A jumper from Loera made the lead 18-10. The Beavers closed the quarter strong with five-straight points and EWU was up 18-15 at the break. Loera had 11 of the team’s points in the quarter.
Oregon St. pushed to take the lead back to begin the second quarter, tying the score at 20 at the 8:01 point. The Beavers took the lead on its next possession with a three. The lead ballooned to 28-20 at 6:24, part of an 11-0 run for Oregon St. Loera stopped the run with a pullup jumper at 6:15. The Beavers scored well and stretched the lead out to 39-27 at halftime. Eastern was held to 21.1 percent shooting in the quarter.
Out of halftime, the Beavers continued to extend its lead over the Eagles. EWU struggled to score against the Oregon St. defense, going three-and-a-half minutes with a point. The Beavers had a 50-31 lead at the 3:23 point of the quarter. Despite the deficit, Eastern closed the quarter strong with a 7-1 stretch and trailed the Beavers, 56-39.
In the fourth quarter, Oregon St. looked to close out the Eagles, building its lead to as much as 25. The Beavers shot 53.8 percent in the quarter and had a 17-12 scoring advantage over Eastern. EWU was limited to 20.0 shooting.
Eag Notes
- The Eagles season ends with 29 wins, eight more than the previous program record for a single season.
- Jamie Loera tallied her fourth 20-point game of the season. She led the team with four steals and four assists.
- Eastern posted its 15th game this season with 10 or more steals, finishing with 13. Overall, the Eagles forced 19 Beaver turnovers. They scored 23 points off of those mistakes. EWU committed only seven turnovers in the game.
- Jacinta Buckley scored 12 points and led the team with five rebounds. It was Buckley’s 12th game scoring in double figures this season and 44th for her career.
- Oregon State had a 45 to 26 advantage in rebounding.
