Aaliyah Alexander’s career-high 21 leads Eastern Washington over Utah State 84-54

Aaliyah Alexander scored a career-high 21 points and Eastern Washington had one of its best shooting performances of the season in a resounding 84-54 nonconference women’s basketball victory over Utah State on Tuesday afternoon at Reese Court in Cheney.

It was a bounce-back win for the Eagles, who lost 88-38 at Oregon on Thursday. Eastern improved to 7-3 overall, its best record heading into Big Sky play since starting the 2014-15 season 8-4.

Alexander, a redshirt freshman who missed all last season with an injury, made 7 of 8 shots overall and 3 of 4 3-pointers . She also grabbed three rebounds and assisted on three other baskets.

“She’s a multidimensional player,” Eagles second-year coach Joddie Gleason said. “She can shoot it from the 3, she can come off the bounce (for a) pull-up (and) she’s super strong and physical at the rim. She can score at all three levels.”

The Eagles shut down the Aggies early, holding them to 2-of-17 shooting in the first quarter. Eastern made 10 of its first 19 shots and built a 23-4 lead. By halftime, Eastern led 43-18.

“Utah State loves to get up and down. They love to shoot 3s,” Gleason said. “We knew that, and we knew we had to be on an island on occasion where we had to guard our player one-on-one and not try to help because they can shoot it so well. I thought we executed on the defensive end really well.”

Utah State (3-8 ) shot 26.9% from the field (18 of 67), its worst shooting performance of the season. It also made only 5 of 22 3-point attempts, well below its season average of 34.5%.

The Eagles had their second-best shooting game of the year, making 30 of 63 shots overall and 12 of 33 3-pointers.

EWU junior Jacinta Buckley, a Lewis and Clark High graduate, set a career high with 17 rebounds. EWU fifth-year senior Jamie Loera had a season-high nine assists to go with nine points and two steals, and sophomore Jaleesa Lawrence scored 15 points off the bench, making 3 of 4 3-pointers and 6 of 8 shots overall.

Loera said finishing their nonconference schedule strong was a priority for the Eagles, who won’t play again until Dec. 29 at home in their Big Sky opener against Montana. They will then host Montana State on Dec. 31.

“During the next few days … we’re just going to be able to hit that reset button and be ready to go attack during conference (play),” Loera said. “We’re eager to play those Montana schools.”

Big game for Coward leads EWU men to win

Cedric Coward finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the second triple-double in EWU men’s basketball history in the Eagles’ 130-54 home win over Northwest Indian College after the women’s game.

Coward got the final assist on a 3-pointer by Ellis Magnuson with 45 seconds left.

It was the second time in as many years that Coward, a sophomore, has accomplished the feat. He had a triple-double on Jan. 7, 2022, for Division III Willamette in a victory over Puget Sound.

Bogdan Bliznyuk had Eastern’s other triple-double – with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists – against Northern Arizona on Jan. 16, 2016.

The Eagles rested Tyreese Davis and Casey Jones, and the team’s other three starters each logged under 20 minutes.

Junior Imhotep George scored 28 points, sophomore Dane Erikstrup had 21 points and senior Jordan Veening added six points for EWU. For all three, the total was their career high with the Eagles.

EWU coach David Riley praised the performance of his second-teamers, led by George, Veening, Magnuson and Ty Harper.

“Those guys have upped the level in practice and made it super competitive. That’s why we’ve taken the next step as a team, and they haven’t gotten any credit for it,” Riley said, “so for them to be out here and play (was exciting) to see.”

Eagles players will disperse for a few days before returning to prepare for their opening games of Big Sky Conference play. Eastern plays at Montana on Dec. 29 and at Montana State on Dec. 31.