Turnaround year for Lady Eags in BSC

The Eastern Washington University women's basketball opened its Big Sky conference schedule with a pair of dramatic wins to improve their record to 7-8, 2-0 on the season by defeating Northern Arizona in overtime, 70-64, on Friday, Jan. 2, and Sacramento State, 69-64, on Sunday, Jan. 4. The Lady Eagles are off to their best Conference start in four years (2-0) and have already surpassed both their conference and overall win totals (1 and 4 respectively) for last season.

After battling with an intense Lumberjack squad (3-11, 0-1) for 45 minutes through 16 lead changes, 13 ties and the ejections of both Nicole Scott and Amy Bratvold in overtime (5 fouls apiece), the Eagles emerged victorious. The win was Eastern's first in conference and third of the season when trailing at halftime.

"We were not perfect tonight, but we battled," Head Coach Wendy Schuller said. "We had a desire to win tonight and, when it was time to make plays, we made them. NAU made some big plays, too; it was a great basketball game, and we were fortunate to come out on top."

The Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and held NAU scoreless for the first 13:50 minutes. The Lumberjacks responded by scoring nine straight, and the game remained close, neither team going up again by more than four, until late in the second half. With teams tied at 48 and about six minutes remaining, the Eagles scored eight straight and earned a 56-48 advantage with 4:47 left in regulation. However, NAU refused to let go and proved it with their own 8-0 run to tie the game again, 56-56, with 2:07 on the clock.

Northern Arizona's Katie Schafer hit two key free throws, giving the Lumberjacks a 60-58 lead with just 41 seconds left, but the Reese Court crowd erupted as Eagle sophomore Julie Piper nailed a jumper with just 14 seconds remaining to force the extra period.

Eastern Washington pulled away from a 64-64 tie with 1:50 thanks to a Tatiana Sparavalo lay-up, and free throws by both Jessica Huntington and Kyla Evans. The difference in the game proved to be free throw shooting. Eastern made all six of their free throw attempts in the second half and in overtime, while NAU converted an abysmal 52.4 percent (11-21) of their attempts during that same span.

Scott finished with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting. She also had seven rebounds and two blocks on her way to earning Big Sky Co-Play of the Week. She became the first Eagle to win the honor since Jamie Chicane on Jan. 30, 2006. Scott will share the award with Montana's Mandy Morales.

Piper (15) and Evans (10) also scored in double digits, while Piper also led the game by grabbing 10 rebounds. Piper and Chene Cooper shared the steals lead as well with three apiece.

Defeating the Hornets (2-13, 0-2) would be no easy task. The game was so close that it was tied 16 times, and neither team held a lead greater than three points until a series of runs in the second half. First, a 5-0 Eagle run with 12:32 on the clock gave EWU a 45-40. Sacramento State answered right back with a 7-0 run of their own to take a 47-45 lead with 10:43 to play. Eastern responded, going up by five on the heels of seven straight points. The Hornets continued to pick at the Eagle lead until tying the game at 54 with exactly five minutes left.

The Eagles went on their final run of the night, 8-0, and pulled away from another tie, 56-56 with 2:10 to go. The Hornets hit a quick three, pulling to within one possession at 64-61 with 1:02 left, but the Eagles won their second straight contest with clutch shooting from the charity stripe. This should come as no surprise considering that this Eagle squad has broken its record two years in a row, nailing 73.3 percent of its free throw attempts last year and 71.2 percent in '07. The Eagles are shooting at 70.6 percent (180-of-255) so far this season.

Piper scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting while connecting on 7-of-9 free throws, and leading the team with eight rebounds and two steals.

"Julie had a nice weekend overall," Schuller said. "She had been struggling a little shooting the ball. She shot a really high percentage this weekend (52.0 percent, 13-of-25) and was really aggressive on the offensive boards (garnering 10 of Eastern's 28 offensive boards over the weekend, 5-of-14 each game)."

Other notable Eagle scorers, Evans and Scott, also had great shooting nights. Evans made 4-of-9 from the floor as well as 2-of-3 from the free throw line, while Scott scored on three of her six field goal attempts and on all six of her charity tosses. Both players finished the game with 12 points.

The Eagles' next test will be on the road versus Idaho State (4-10, 1-0) on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 6:05 p.m. The Bengals are just one victory removed from a five-game losing streak.