Ewu Continues Its Run Toward Postseason Berth

College women

At the beginning of the season, the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team was predicted to finish next-to-last in the Big Sky Conference.

Don’t listen to sportswriters.

The Eagles defeated the Idaho State Bengals 76-52 Friday night at Reese Court. With the win, EWU (4-4, 8-12) stayed in a tie for fourth in the conference with Northern Arizona (4-4, 12-8).

Both teams have six games to play in the regular season. EWU has three of those games at home while NAU has four at home. The top four teams at season’s end will play in the Big Sky tournament at the site of the regular-season champion, March 10-11.

EWU center Lori Napier helped lead her team (2-6, 3-19) with a stellar 18-point, 11-rebound, seven-assist performance. The Eagles never trailed against the injury-riddled Bengals.

Since a 2-7 start, EWU has gone 6-5 under a rookie coach coupled with the loss of center Nicole King after five games into the season - and this team is making more of an impressive showing than most expected.

“At first it was hard,” Napier said. “Before, I think we were used to playing for ourselves. Coach (Heidi VanDerveer) has us disciplined. It’s hard sometimes. A lot of times you have an open shot and naturally the first instinct is to shoot the ball.

“But when we stay in the offense, we’ll make that extra pass to get a teammate an easier shot than the one we might have had.”

Such a philosophy showed itself in many ways, especially in Napier’s case. The 6-foot senior center led her team in assists. That category is usually reserved for the ballhandlers on the team.

“I think we are a very good team when we are playing up to our potential,” VanDerveer said. “After dropping both games in Montana last weekend, it was really important for us to bounce back and not only win, but to play good as well.”

In addition to Napier, Tina Smith scored 13 points and had nine rebounds, Kristy Missall had 15 points and eight rebounds and Jennifer Sutter had 11 points and four assists. As a team, the Eagles shot 48.4 percent, going 30 for 62 from the floor.

Defensively, EWU held Idaho State to 8-for-27 shooting in the first half. The hobbling Bengals (5 of 10 players in uniform wore some kind of protective knee brace) managed to cut a 31-16 halftime deficit to 45-36 with 13:06 to go in the game, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the night.

EWU returns to action tonight to at 7 to host Boise State.

EWU 76, Idaho State 52

IDAHO STATE (2-6, 3-19)

Nelson 4-11 1-3 8, Royse 4-6 3-4 11, Davis 0-4 0-0 0 Boles 0-6 0-0 0, Salness 6-12 1-1 13, Irwin 0-0 0-0 0, Beauchine 1-1 1-2 3, Dunaway 1-2 0-1 3, Cheskaty 1-3 0-0 2, Toigiai 4-10 0-1 9. Totals 21-55 6-12 52.

EASTERN WASHINGTON (4-4, 8-12)

Smith 6-13 0-1 13, Missall 7-11 1-2 15, Napier 7-10 3-4 18, Watterson 4-10 0-0 8, Sutter 2-3 7-8 11, Hoffman 0-0 0-0, Schwenke 0-2 2-2 2, Laky 1-7 0-0 2, Bailey 1-2 0-0 3, Graber 0-1 0-0 0, Sloan 1-1 0-0 2, Hollingbery 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 30-62 13-17 76.

Halftime-Eastern Washington 31, Idaho State 16. 3-Point goals-Idaho State 4-12 (Nelson 1-4, Beauchine 1-1, Boles 0-2, Dunaway 1-1, Cheskaty 0-1, Toigai 1-3). Eastern Washington 3-13 (Smith 1-3, Napier 1-2, Watterson 0-3, Schwenke 0-2, Laky 0-1, Bailey 1-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Idaho State 32 (Nelson 11), Eastern Washington42 (Napier 11). Assists-Idaho State 10 (Boles 5), Eastern Washington 22 (Napier 8). Total fouls-Idaho State 17, Eastern Washington 16. A-433.

Boise State 72, Idaho 68

The Broncos (6-2, 12-8) overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to beat the Vandals (2-6, 4-16) at Moscow.

USC 92, WSU 64

Tina Thompson scored 30 points to lead the Trojans (5-5, 13-5) past the visiting Cougars (4-6, 11-8) in a Pacific-10 Conference game in Los Angeles.

Jenni Ruff led the Cougars with 15 points, while Julie Wight added 14. WSU’s bench added 21 points, including eight from Doreen Evans and six by Adrienne Keith.

WASHINGTON STATE (4-6, 11-8) Ruff 4-11 6-9 15, Saneholtz 2-8 3-4 7, Ellis 1-5 0-0 2, Wight 5-13 0-0 14, Jarosch 2-3 0-0 5, Kronberger 1-3 0-0 3, Erickson 0-1 2-2 2, Evans 3-6 0-0 8, Kunze 1-2 0-0 2, Keith 3-6 0-0 6, Totals 22-61 11-15 64. USC (5-5, 13-5)

Thompson 10-13 9-14 30, Anton 4-14 1-1 11, Campbell 7-9 4-4 18, Jackson 1-8 0-0 2, Shields 6-14 1-2 13, Gomez 4-10 2-2 10, Kartz 2-4 1-4 5, Porter 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 35-77 18-27 92.

Halftime-WSU 44, WSU 23. 3-Point goals-WSU 9-20 (Rufff 1-1, Wight 4-10, Jarosch 1-2, Kroonberger 1-3 Evans 2-4), USC 4-10 (Thompson 1-1, Anton 2-4, Jackson 0-1, Gomez 0-2, Porter 1-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-WSU 37 (Ruff 8), USC 50 (Campbell 12). Assists-WSU 12 (Ruff 5), USC 20 (Jackson 9). Steals-WSU 4 (Saneholtz 3), USC 18 (Anton 5). Turnovers-WSU 26 (Kronberger 8), USC 14 (thompson, Jackson 3). Total fouls-WSU 21, USC 15. Technicals-None. A-624.

(12) Washington 57, UCLA 54, OT

Rhonda Smith and Laura Gonsalves each scored 12 points and No. 12 Washington (8-2, 18-5) held UCLA (2-8, 7-12) scoreless in the final 3:41 of overtime for a victory in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON (8-2, 18-5)

Lewis 3-9 0-0 6, Pelz 2-4 2-3 6, Smith 6-11 0-0 12, Foucade 4-12 2-6 11, Kelly 0-5 0-0 0, Gonsalves 6-13 0-2 12, Wuschnig 1-2 0-0 3, Savasta 3-11 0-2 6, Perkins 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-67 5-15 57.

UCLA (2-8, 7-12)

Grimes 4-12 0-3 8, Bennett 1-8 1-1 3, Hughes 8-14 2-5 18, Kuypers 1-7 0-0 2, Hilbert 7-20 3-5 19, Denning 0-0 0-0 0, Kristich 1-1 1-2 3, Collins 0-4 1-2 1, Veasley 0-1 0-0 0, Arredondo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-67 8-18 54.

Halftime-Washington 20, UCLA 20. End of Regulation- Washington 49, UCLA 49. 3-Point goals-Washington 2-9 (Wuschnig 1-1, Foucade 1-4, Savasta 0-1, Kelly 0-3), UCLA 2-5 (Hilbert 2-3, Kuypers 0-2). Fouled out-Smith. Rebounds- Washington 46 (Smith, Gonsalves 8), UCLA 61 (Hughes 13). Assists-Washington 10 (Kelly 4), UCLA (Grimes, Kuypers 4). Total fouls-Washington 23, UCLA 22. A-1,174.