Putting the ball in senior Melissa Williams’ hands has resulted in an Eagles’ resurgence. (Jesse Tinsley)
The Eastern Washington women’s basketball team may have to wrestle a grizzly bear on its own turf if the Eagles hope to convert their winning streak into a Big Sky championship.
After winning the past six games, Wendy Schuller has her team poised to challenge league-leading Montana if Eastern can first travel to Bozeman and avoid another pesky road loss.
“We’ve definitely talked about the work we’ve done and the point it’s gotten us to,” Schuller said. “We are just focused on Montana State and going into a tough place to play. We know this trip isn’t going to be easy.”
This team has already continued the streak of four consecutive seasons that the Eagles have won at least 16 games. But having won all but two of its home games – including a buzzer-beater loss to Gonzaga – the Eagles have lost half of their games on the road.
“We’ve had years where we could not win on the road,” Schuller said. “But we beat Florida at their place and we beat Sac State at their place. This team has shown that we can win on the road.”
The 80-79 road win earlier this month at third-place Sacramento State was particularly gratifying after the Eagles dropped an earlier home game to the Hornets, she said.
“That was a huge game. Competing for a conference championship, we had to win that game,” Schuller said. “It let us know that we can be down and beat people like that on the road. You can’t practice that. It helps grow your confidence.”
The Eagles are clicking on offense as senior Melissa Williams is playing the best basketball of her career.
The 6-foot-1 senior forward from Camas, Washington, now has nine double-doubles on the season, including averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds in the wins last week over Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Her effort earned her the co-Big Sky player of the week along with Idaho’s Stacey Barr.
Her play has “made all the difference in the world for us,” Schuller said of Williams. “It’s fun to watch players blossom into the players you knew they could be. I’m so proud of how far she’s come.”
Pacific roast
After cutting down the nets Thursday for its 11th straight West Coast Conference championship, the Gonzaga Bulldogs suffered one of its lowest points of the season with the 71-59 defeat at the hands of Pacific on Saturday.
Coach Lisa Fortier said the coaches and players watched the film to diagnose how the Tigers were able to turn an 11-point deficit into a lead in just over five minutes.
“They ramped up their pressure and we didn’t take care of the ball,” Fortier said, of the 27-4 run. “They picked up their intensity and we went far too long without meeting it.”
The Zags now finish the regular season on the road at San Diego and BYU.
“We just have to move on,” Fortier said. “Losses happen. But when you have gone as long as we have without a loss, it’s tough.”
The Toreros will be playing for better seeding in the upcoming WCC tournament.
“They play hard all the time,” Fortier said of San Diego. “We need to rally and quickly.”
Expecting the Toreros to pressure Gonzaga’s guards, Fortier has brought in “practice guys coming in trying to steal every ball from us,” she said. “We work on it all the time. I try to reiterate to them to just make the simple play.”
Even splitting the games this weekend, Gonzaga’s RPI, or ratings percentage index, remained at 42. While the Zags were close to cracking the AP top 25, the loss to Pacific (RPI 43) dropped them in both rankings.
The Zags this week only received one vote in the AP poll and two votes in the USA Today-coaches poll.
Huskies bite back
After upsetting Washington 83-72 in Seattle on Friday, the Cougars took a 40-point shellacking Sunday in Pullman from the same Huskies.
“Obviously, it was kind of a roller-coaster weekend for us,” WSU coach June Daugherty said. “We started pretty good and then it looked like we started running on flat tires. It’s time to move on.”
The Cougars, who normally play Friday-Sunday games, now finish with Thursday-Saturday games at home against UCLA and USC.
“They are must wins. There is no doubt about it,” Daugherty said. “Not only for us to achieve our goals, but to also send our seniors out in style. We had a long talk about that after Saturday’s game. There is no sugar-coating it.”
The final home games will be the last for All-Pac 12 guard Tia Presley and injured center Shalie Dheensaw.
“She’s had her knee surgery. Dheensaw will not play … but she’s had a great career and deserves a great sendoff,” Daugherty said.
Presley, who starred at Gonzaga Prep, broke her ankle her freshman year and suffered a knee injury her sophomore season.
“People felt she was undersized, but we felt this kid was a warrior,” Daugherty said of Presley. “She’s about winning. She’ll scratch, claw or do anything to score or do the job defensively.”
Because of the schedule, the weekend games are the only times the Cougars will face UCLA and USC during the regular season.
“On film they are just so extremely athletic and well coached,” Daugherty said of both teams. “It’s going to be a tough go, but I believe we will be up for the challenge.”
Vandals’ plunder
After two straight home wins, Idaho has the same tough road test as Eastern Washington. The Vandals travel this week to take on league-leading Montana on Thursday and Montana State on Saturday.
Currently in eighth place in the Big Sky, the Vandals must keep winning to earn a spot in the eight-team conference tournament.
