Matadors Run Eastern Into Loss Column Curry’S 30 Points, Ewu’S Turnovers Change Course Of Big Sky Contest

Cal State Northridge began to make its run on the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team late in the first half.

It didn’t quit running - or scoring - at Reese Court in Cheney until it had recorded a convincing 71-56 win Saturday night, snapping the Eagles’ rare three-game winning streak.

But for about a half, it looked as though Eastern (5-8, 2-1) would remain unbeaten against conference opponents in the early stages of the Big Sky Conference season.

The Eagles started strong, building a 23-11 lead with 7:40 left in the first half. Their lead remained in double figures, 29-19, with 2:16 left in the half, when center Lyndy Burgess scored a layup off a nice feed by Stacie Granger.

But following that easy bucket, the Matadors’ dangerous guard Edniesha Curry began to take over. The speedy sophomore, who’s generously listed at 5-foot-5, rallied in the final 2 minutes of the half, hitting three 3-pointers, two from the identical spot on the baseline. That helped cut the lead to 34-28 at halftime.

It was more of the same in the second half, along with Curry’s backcourt mates, 5-4 sophomore Tina Greer and 5-7 guard Jamilah Jones, who chipped in offensively as well as defensively.

Curry, the conference scoring leader (20 ppg), finished with 30 points and wasn’t picky with her spots. She was 10 of 22 from the field, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and 4 of 4 from the line.

Greer finished with 16 points and had six of CSN’s 21 steals.

The Eagles committed 32 turnovers, their second-worst total this season.

“We didn’t take care of the ball well,” said Eastern starting point guard Courtney Horner, who committed six turnovers and had four assists. “We felt like we could win in the first half. In the first half, we played like we were going to win … we played to win.”

Eastern shot 52 percent in the first half (13 of 25) and was led by Burgess, who scored nine of her team-high 12 points. In the second half, the Eagles hit just 3 of 14 of their shots in the opening 10 minutes and 8 of 26 overall to finish with a 41.2 shooting percentage. The Eagles watched the lead change when Curry scored off a steal to give the Matadors (9-5, 3-1) a 36-35 lead at 17:29. It was the visitors’ first of the game. The easy bucket came seconds after Curry hit an uncontested 3-pointer.

CSN, finishing a weeklong road trip when it arrives home today, never trailed after that.

“Their pressure got to us,” Eastern coach Jocelyn Pfeifer said. “They have the athleticism and the quickness. When they put pressure on you, it wears you down. We handled it well early and we’ll definitely learn from our (poor) second half. Next time we play them, hopefully we’ll get them down there.”

But Eastern had its chances at home. It got as close as 54-50 at 6:05 when Horner’s rainbow 3-point shot skipped off the glass and fell in. But Greer quickly nailed a 3 to put the lead back to seven.

In the final stretch, Burgess was 1 of 6 from the free-throw line adding to her team’s 11 of 20 free-throw shooting. The Matadors converted 7 of 8 from the line in the final 90 seconds and were 11 of 12 from the line and 25 of 65 from the field (38.5 percent).

CS Northridge 71, EWU 56

Cal State Northridge (9-5, 3-1) - Amari 2-5 0-0 5, Harris 1-5 2-2 4, Curry 10-22 4-4 30, Jones 3-5 0-0 7, Greer 5-10 4-4 16, Lof 0-2 0-0 0, Rice 0-1 1-2 1, Jonas 1-4 0-0 2, Fowler 1-6 0-0 2, Gowin 0-1 0-0 0, Milic 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 25-65 11-12 71.

Eastern Washington (5-8, 2-1) - Waddell 0-1 0-0 0, Horner 2-7 0-0 6, Lincoln 3-4 0-0 6, Bailey 2-9 3-4 7, J. Granger 0-1 0-0 0, Ford 3-11 2-2 8, S. Granger 4-7 1-2 10, Pilkington 1-2 3-4 5, Burgess 5-7 2-8 12. Totals 21-51 11-20 56.

Halftime - Eastern Washington 34, Cal State Northridge 28. 3-point goals - Cal State Northridge 10-19 (Curry 6-10, Greer 2-2, Jones 1-1, Amari 1-4, Fowler 0-2), Eastern Washington 3-11 (Horner 2-4, S. Granger 1-1, Waddell 0-1, J. Granger 0-1, Ford 0-4). Fouled out - Amari. Rebounds - Cal State Northridge 35 (Milic 9), Eastern Washington 40 (Burgess 11). Assists - Cal State Northridge 15 (Harris 3, Curry 3, Jonas 3), Eastern Washington 16 (Bailey 4, Horner 4). Total fouls - Cal State Northridge 22, Eastern Washington 15. Technicals - None. A - 922.