Eastern Washington women face uphill battle at Big Sky Tournament
If there is a winning formula for the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team, the Eagles need only look back two games to be reminded of it.
In an 81-61 home victory over Northern Arizona – their largest margin in any of their seven Big Sky wins – the Eagles shared the ball (20 assists), got their arms in the air (a season-high seven blocks) and made their 3s (a season-best 14 of 27).
Now their challenge is to play that way three games in a row at the Big Sky Tournament, where Eastern will open play as the No. 6 seed at 1:30 p.m. Monday against No. 3 Northern Colorado.
“You have to make sure that at this point in the season you’re playing your best, and you can’t be afraid of the moment,” EWU head coach Joddie Gleason said Saturday. “Our players are ready. We’ve been battle tested, and we’re excited.”
Two years ago, the Eagles won the Big Sky Tournament – again this year it is being played at Idaho Central Arena in Boise – as the No. 1 seed.
The path is different as a No. 6 seed. Should the Eagles win Monday, they would play again Tuesday in the semifinals. The championship game is a day later.
“I just think that you play every game like it’s your last, because it could be, and I think both teams are coming in with that mentality,” Gleason said. “It’s a great atmosphere. There’s so much on the line, so we just try to focus on that one game. We don’t even look at who we’re playing next. We don’t talk about it. We don’t share the schedule.”
Northern Colorado (22-9, 13-5 Big Sky) defeated Eastern (14-17, 7-11) in both their regular season matchups. The Bears enter the tournament having won five of their last six games, the lone defeat coming on Feb. 28 at Idaho, 55-41.
The No.1-seeded Vandals (26-5, 17-1) have won 15 games in a row. The regular-season title is Idaho’s first since 2019. It last won the Big Sky Tournament in 2016, as a No. 3 seed.
Idaho will open the tournament at 11 a.m. Sunday against the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 9 Weber State and No. 10 Portland State. Whoever wins that game Sunday will advance to the semifinals on Tuesday against either No. 4 Idaho State or No. 5 Sacramento State.
Should the Eagles get past the Bears, they would meet either No. 2 Montana State, No. 7 Northern Arizona or No. 8 Montana.
To get there, though, the Eagles will have to start fast, senior guard Ella Gallatin said.
“We talked a lot about it, just throwing the first punch,” she said Saturday. “Sometimes we get down in the first quarter and climb our way back up, but if we throw that first punch then we don’t have to make that comeback.”