By Elohino Theodore

 
Eastern shoots 33.3 percent in the game

The EWU women’s basketball team played on the road against North Dakota on Jan. 30 where they fell 82-60.

According to goeags.com, head coach Wendy Schuller thinks that the Eagles didn’t play well as they could have in the first half. “We didn’t bring enough intensity defensively in the first half,” Schuller said. “But, I thought we played as well as we have all season on that end in the second half.”

The Eagles were competitive early in the game, with 11 lead changes and a few ties. Freshmen guard Bethany Montgomery scored a layup with 9:33 left in the first half to cut the North Dakota lead to one point. The opposing team answered back later on with a 19-5 run for the rest of the first half to take a 43-28 lead.

Freshman center Marly Anderson scored a jump shot to stop the North Dakota run. Senior guard Aubrey Ashenfelter also scored a layup and junior guard Lexie Nelson converted on a free throw to cut North Dakota’s lead to 10. However, at the 1:12 mark, North Dakota would go on a mini 5-0 run to lead 48-33 at halftime.

For the first three minutes in the second half, the Eagles were held scoreless. Meanwhile, UND increased their lead to 20 points. Senior center Laura Hughes scored a jump shot at the 16:33 mark.

Eastern continued to shoot poorly; however, they made up for it defensively. At the 10:16 mark in the second half, Nelson scored a 3-pointer to cut North Dakota’s lead to 15 points. With every Eastern comeback, UND answered back with a run.

North Dakota went on an 8-2 run for five minutes to lead 68-47. North Dakota pulled away to win the game giving the Eagles their 10th loss of the season.

Hughes finished with 13 points for the game. Ashenfelter and sophomore guard Hayley Hodgins contributed with 10 points. Nelson finished with nine points, while Montgomery chipped in eight points.

Eastern will continue their road trip with a game against Northern Colorado on Feb. 1.