Eastern women earn first Montana sweep

Big Sky Conference leading scorer Brianne Ryan had 22 points and eight rebounds and Chene Cooper eclipsed 1,000 points for her career as Eastern Washington beat Montana State 66-52 Saturday at Worthington Arena in Bozeman.

The conference leader in assists and steals, Cooper had 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds and has 1,005 points for her career.

The win, coupled with Thursday’s win over Montana, marked the first time since the Eagles joined NCAA Division I athletics in 1983 that they’ve beaten both Montana schools on a road trip.

EWU, which took over sole possession of second place in the BSC, improved to 13-9 overall and 7-2 in conference play.

Montana State fell to 14-7 and 6-3.

The Eagles host Northern Arizona at 6:05 p.m. Thursday.

Washington State 78, Arizona 68: Sage Romberg came off the bench to score 14 points and Jazmine Perkins added 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals as the Cougars beat Arizona in a Pac-12 Conference game at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.

Five players scored in double digits for Washington State, which snapped a five-game losing streak.

Arizona (13-8, 2-7), the Pac-12’s leading 3-point shooting team, made just 3 of 14 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars (10-11, 4-5) play at USC on Thursday and at UCLA on Saturday.

Lewis & Clark 82, Whitworth 70: Lexi Belcher tied a career high with 26 points, but the eighth-ranked Pioneers pulled away in the second half and topped the Pirates in a Northwest Conference game in Portland.

Belcher made 9 of 13 shots, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, to lead Whitworth (8-11, 4-6), which trailed by just four points at halftime.

Kristina Williams tallied a team-high 20 points for Lewis & Clark (18-1, 9-1).

The Pirates host Puget Sound on Friday.

Utah State 78, Idaho 70: The Vandals put up a fight in the second half but fell to the Aggies in Western Athletic Conference play at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho.

Alyssa Charlston had 29 points and nine rebounds and Stacey Barr added 20 points – including six 3-pointers – for Idaho, which responded after falling behind by 17 points in the first half.

Devyn Christensen scored a team-high 22 points for Utah State (13-6, 4-1).

The Vandals (5-16, 0-5) play at Hawaii on Thursday.

Columbia Basin 72, CC Spokane 54: Jennifer Noon scored 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Hawks got out to a quick start and stormed past the Sasquatch in an NWAACC game in Pasco.

Columbia Basin (17-2, 5-1) made 17 of 30 shots in the first half, while the Sasquatch made 7 of 26.

Amanda Buttrey and Laikyn Brophy had nine points apiece for the Sasquatch, who lost the rebounding battle to the Hawks 42-25.

CCS (5-12, 0-5) hosts Big Bend at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Snow 78, North Idaho 75: Erica Martinez had 27 points and five assists as the Badgers (12-9, 5-2) edged the Cardinals (17-3, 6-1) in Scenic West Athletic Conference play in Ephraim, Utah.

Julia Salmio had 21 points and six rebounds and Korina Baker added 13 points for NIC.

The Cardinals play at Southern Idaho on Saturday.

Arizona State 57, Washington 53: Kimberly Brandon scored 16 points and Deja Mann added 12 as the Sun Devils (15-5, 6-3) edged the Huskies (11-8, 3-6) in Pac-12 Conference play in Seattle.

Washington was led by Regina Rogers’ game highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds.

UW plays at UCLA on Thursday.