Area women’s basketball: Eastern Washington’s season comes to end with loss to Portland State

Jada Lewis and Tatiana Streun scored 16 points apiece as eighth-seeded Portland State eliminated ninth-seed Eastern Washington from the women’s Big Sky Tournament with a 71-51 victory Monday in Boise.

Conference freshman of the year Maisie Burnham paced the Eagles (6-17) with 13 points, while Kennedy Dickie added 10 points and seven rebounds. Grace Kirscher and Jenna Dick added 12 and 11 points respectively for EWU.

The Vikings (12-12) shot 40.7% from the floor and 42.9% (9-21) from 3-point range, while holding Eastern to 30% overall and 32% (8-25) from deep. The Eagles also committed 19 turnovers, which PSU turned into 24 points.

The Eagles began Big Sky play with four-straight wins, including a road sweep of the Vikings, but ended the season on an eight-game losing streak. EWU has just one senior on its roster.

Portland State advances to face top-seeded Idaho State in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

• Idaho women to play NAU: The second-seeded Idaho Vandals will open their Big Sky Tournament with a quarterfinal against Northern Arizona at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The Lumberjacks (13-11) defeated No. 10-seed Weber State 82-68 in the first round.

Idaho (15-6) split its two-game series with NAU in Flagstaff, Arizona this season. The Lumberjacks won the Dec. 31, 2020, Big Sky opener 84-64, before UI bounced back two days later with a 66-59 victory.

The winner advances to Wednesday’s semifinals.