Eagles hold on to beat Cougs 3rd straight time
As Washington State coach Sherri Murrell and Eastern Washington coach Wendy Schuller finished talking before their basketball teams squared off at Reese Court on Tuesday night, they agreed they both better have a play ready for a last-second shot.
Thirty-nine minutes and 55.6 seconds later, it was Murrell drawing up a play, but Amada Durocher’s contested shot wasn’t close and Eastern Washington held on for a 57-54 win before 452 fans.
It’s the second straight nail-biter over a local rival for the Eagles (6-7) and third straight in the series with the Cougs (6-7) that was decided by a last-second miss.
EWU, with two straight wins, trails in the series 24-10. Eastern, the only team to play all three area rivals, beat Idaho by two in its last game and lost to Gonzaga by three in November.
After a three-point play by Ashley Knight and back-to-back 3s from Joanna Chadd, who led all scorers with 17 points, EWU led 44-30 with 10:32 to play.
The Cougars scored a quick seven, the last five from Nikki Stratton, to make it a game.
“They hit some shots and we did some things that weren’t real smart,” Schuller said. “Washington State fought back. They’re not a team that’s going to lay down.”
WSU kept chipping away, getting a spark from Brynn Bemis, a soccer player from Coeur d’Alene. With Bemis in for a career-high 11 second-half minutes, the Cougars attacked the basket and she contributed three free throws. Finally, a Stratton drive made it 56-54 with 25 seconds left.
After Eastern’s Leah Gonnella made a free throw with 17.8 seconds remaining, Chadd blocked a Stratton 3 from the right wing. The ball went to Keisha Moore in the paint, but Julie Page blocked her shot out of bounds, setting up the final play.
Both teams got big contributions from reserves.
The Cougars had 21 bench points, led by Stratton’s career-high 12. The sophomore from Colorado, who missed last season with a foot injury, also played a career-high 20 minutes.
Eastern had 23 points from its bench.
“Joanna stepped up big in the second half,” Schuller said. “We had some kids come off the bench and give us a lot of energy. We were able to stay really fresh and play hard for 40 minutes. That makes a big difference when we’re able to do that.”
Both teams had 19 field goals in a game marred by 43 turnovers. EWU had one more free throw, so the difference was from long range. WSU was 4 of 13 and Eastern 6 of 13, with Chadd connecting on 4 of her 7 attempts.
“I’ve always had the shot,” the Eagle point guard the past two seasons said. “Being at the (off-guard) allows me to be a little more offensive. I love to catch and shoot and come off screens.”
Murrell was unavailable for comment after the game as Washington State lost for the sixth straight time.
Notes
Felice Moore, Eastern’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, only played 11 minutes after injuring her right thumb. She had five steals and two points. … Starting guard Charmaine Jones missed her second straight game for the Cougars because of a concussion. She will return to practice today. … WSU junior Adriane Ferguson, a Mead High graduate who was injured in the fourth game of the season, will get the pins out of her broken pinkie finger next week and could return to action in two or three weeks. … Eastern’s Brittany Osborne missed another game because of a sprained ankle. … The Cougars’ home game with Washington on Saturday has been moved up to 1 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports Northwest. … Gonzaga’s Friday night home game against Santa Clara will also be shown on FSN. The Zags also play Sunday afternoon.