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Eastern Washington University Basketball

Sacramento State outlasts Eastern Washington women 71-67 at Big Sky Tournament

Eastern Washington Eagles guard Emily McElmurry (23) is fouled by Sacramento State Hornets forward Jaydia Martin (23) after stealing the ball away in the first half. Photo by Steve Conner (Steve Conner/For The Spokesman-Review)
Eastern Washington Eagles guard Emily McElmurry (23) is fouled by Sacramento State Hornets forward Jaydia Martin (23) after stealing the ball away in the first half. Photo by Steve Conner (Steve Conner/For The Spokesman-Review)
By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review

For the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team, the road back to the NCAA Tournament was going to be a long one.

It was a member of last year’s Big Sky Conference champion Eagles team that helped ensure this year’s Eagles didn’t even get past the first day of the conference tournament.

Jaydia Martin played one of her best games for Sacramento State, and the eighth-seeded Hornets eliminated the seventh-seeded Eagles from the Big Sky Tournament with a 71-67 victory Saturday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.

Sacramento State (15-17) advanced to play No. 2 seed Northern Arizona at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Eastern’s season is over (11-20 overall).

Martin, a senior who was once the Big Sky Freshman of the Year at Eastern Washington, made 10 of 15 shots from the field and 6 of 8 free throws to finish with a game-high 26 points, five shy of her season high. She also grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.

The Hornets made 27 of 57 shots (47%) from the field while the Eagles – whose field-goal percentage of 37.8 ranked last in the Big Sky this season – made 23 of 59 (39%).

Eastern led most of the game and by 10 at halftime. Its scoring was balanced: Freshman Kourtney Grossman scored 14 points and senior Peyton Howard had 13, and junior Ella Gallatin (11) and senior Alexis Pettis (12) also reached double digits.

With the game tied at 67 and 33 seconds remaining, Eastern had the ball with a chance to drain the clock and attempt the final shot. But Gallatin’s inbound pass went wide of Grossman, and redshirt junior Benthe Versteeg grabbed the loose ball.

After a timeout, Versteeg hit a jumper to put Sac State ahead 69-67 with 11 seconds left. Then, Howard’s midlane jumper was blocked by Katie Peneueta. Lina Falk was fouled and made both free throws with 3 seconds left to put the game out of Eastern’s reach.

Versteeg, who was named first-team all-conference on Friday, finished with 11 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

Grossman, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, grabbed 12 rebounds to record her 14th double-double of the season.