NO. 1 EASTERN WASHINGTON 71, NO. 9 WEBER STATE 58
Facing the first upset bid of the 2024 Big Sky tournaments, Eastern Washington turned to its stars to survive and advance.
Aaliyah Alexander had six points, Jaydia Martin five and Jamie Loera two in a 13-3 run to close the third quarter as the Eagles recovered from a nine-point deficit midway through the third to beat upstart Weber State 71-58.
After the Wildcats took the lead back early in the fourth, Jaleesa Lawrence had five points and Loera four in a 9-0 run that put EWU back up by six points, a lead the Eagles didn’t relinquish.
“I thought that our players did a nice job of relaxing a little bit and then answered, didn’t panic, and got more stops in the second half to break away a little bit,” Eastern Washington coach Joddie Gleason said.
After beating Portland State in the first round yesterday, Jenteal Jackson’s Wildcats came out scrappy and focused, frustrating Eastern Washington’s high-powered offense.
The teams matched each other exactly with 16 points in the first quarter and nine in the second, and went to halftime tied at 25.
Weber State’s seniors, Daryn Hickok and Jadyn Matthews, took over in the third. After Amelia Raidaveta opened the quarter with a layup for the Wildcats, Hickok and Matthews combined to score the Wildcats’ next 16 points, and Matthews’ 3-pointer with 4:38 left in the quarter gave Weber a 43-34 lead.
Hickok scored 21 points and Matthews had 20 points and 16 rebounds in the final college game for both players.
“They’ve been really gracious and great with all the changes we’ve made on both sides of the ball,” Jackson said. “Very receptive to coaching, and they’ve done a really good job leading this group. They left everything they’ve got out on the court tonight.”
But Eastern Washington’s resolve was the story as the regular-season champs struck back not once, but twice.
Lawrence led five Eagles in double figures with 15 points, while Loera had 14 and eight assists.
Eastern Washington plays the winner of Montana State-Northern Colorado in the semifinals.
Weber State’s season ends with an 8-25 record.
NO. 2 NORTHERN ARIZONA 81, NO. 8 SACRAMENTO STATE 63
Northern Arizona’s high-octane offense ground to a halt in the first half of their quarterfinal Sunday against Sacramento State.
But after the break, the Lumberjacks were back to normal, exploding for 53 second-half points to overturn a one-point halftime deficit and run away from upset-minded Sac State.
“We knew that Sac was going to be tough,” NAU head coach Loree Payne said. “They’re young, they’re talented, and so we’re just fortunate that we had the veteran leadership that we did today to be able to close things out in the fourth quarter.”
The Hornets, coming off a win over Idaho State on Saturday, led 29-28 at halftime after holding NAU to just nine points in the second quarter.
When the third quarter started, though, they had no answer for Northern Arizona post Sophie Glancey.
Glancey, who received unanimous first-team all-conference recognition this year as a sophomore, scored 18 straight Northern Arizona points over a near-seven-minute stretch in the middle of the third. Before the run started, NAU was down 33-31. By the time it ended, the Lumberjacks were up 49-41.
“I just had to settle in a little bit, for sure,” said Glancey, who went to Boise’s Timberline High. “I was very caught up in it. It’s a big stage, it’s important to me, obviously, because I’m from Boise. There’s a lot going on, so I think the second half I was able to settle in and play the way I wanted to play.”
Sacramento State never got closer than six points the rest of the way, and Northern Arizona led by double digits for almost the entire fourth quarter.
Glancey finished with 30 points, tying her career-high, and 11 rebounds.
Benthe Versteeg led Sac State with 19 points and seven assists.
