College women’s basketball: EWU triumphs at Montana

Chene Cooper and Brianne Ryan each tallied 15 points and for the first time since 1987, the Eastern Washington Eagles (12-15, 8-6) emerged victorious at Dahlberg Arena, handling Big Sky Conference rival Montana (14-13, 9-5) 71-63 Saturday in Missoula.

It was the Eagles’ first road win against the Grizzlies in 24 years, making coach Wendy Schuller just the second EWU coach to beat the Grizzlies on their home floor.

After shooting just 28 percent from the floor Thursday against Montana State, EWU hit 23 of 49 against the Grizzlies, making eight 3-pointers.

The Eagles used five of those 3-pointers in the first half to help build a narrow 33-31 lead.

After trailing 42-39 early in the second half, Eastern Washington rallied, going on a 12-2 run over the span of four minutes to pull ahead for good.

Cooper added five assists and four steals for the Eagles, while Ryan had six rebounds and knocked down three 3-pointers.

Both teams will meet in the season finale Saturday and EWU will try and use the next two games to jump the Grizzlies in the BSC standings.

North Idaho 82, Eastern Utah 57: The Cardinals (26-3, 12-3) wrapped up the regular season with an emphatic win over the visiting Golden Eagles (9-19, 4-11) in SWAC action.

The win cemented NIC’s spot as the No. 2 team out of the conference, giving the Cardinals a first-round bye in next week’s SWAC tournament Thursday through Saturday at the CSI Gymnasium in Twin Falls, Idaho.

NIC will play the winner between Snow College and CEU, which play Thursday at 5:30 p.m.