Laura Hughes scores 18 points and Lexie Nelson scores 17 points
By Elohino Theodore
Staff Writer
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Eastern Washington went up against Gonzaga for their second regular road game of the season on Wednesday Nov. 20.
EWU ended up falling to the Bulldogs 78-58, but Eastern outrebounded Gonzaga 19-14 in the second half of the game. Eastern also outscored the Bulldogs in the second chance points category, 13-12.
At the start of the game, senior center Laura Hughes got Eastern going by giving Eastern a 4-2 lead. After this, Gonzaga answered back with a 7-0 run to lead 9-4. Senior forward Aubrey Ashenfelter later put an end to the run with a basket at the 14:53 mark in the first half.
Junior guard Lexie Nelson later scored a 3-pointer to cut Gonzaga’s seven point lead to four. But the Bulldogs answered back going on a 5-0 run, Eastern’s head coach Wendy Schuller called a timeout, as a result, at the 9:46 mark in the first half.
After the timeout, Eastern fought back with a 6-0 run cutting the Gonzaga lead to three. After another run by Gonzaga that put them up by 13 points, freshman guard Tisha Phillips chipped in five points. This brought the Eagles to within eight points making the score 30-22. However, Gonzaga ended the first half with a 7-2 run to boost their lead to 13 points.
At the second half, the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 17 points, making the score 41-24. Eastern had to take a timeout early in the half. Eastern went to a full court press to cut the Gonzaga lead to within nine, making the score, 46-37. After the Eagles’ brief comeback, Gonzaga went on a 15-5 run to take a 19 point lead. For the rest of the second half, Eastern would not get any closer than 16 points.
EWU shot 35 percent from the field, and shot 75 percent from the free-throw line. Hughes led the team with 18 points and six rebounds. Nelson scored 17 points for the night, Montgomery chipped in eight points, with four assists and three rebounds. Ashenfelter had six points, five rebounds and four steals. Eagles fell to 0-3 on the season, while Gonzaga improves to 3-1.
