Women start slow and finish strong in opening exhibition

Kapri Morrow leads second half comeback against Simon Fraser

Bailey Monteith

Sophomore Brittany Klaman crosses over on SFU defenders. Klaman finished the game with seven assists and six rebounds.

By Drew Lawson, Reporter

Senior guard Violet Kapri Morrow scored 27 points and pulled in 12 rebounds as the EWU women’s basketball team won its exhibition match over Simon Fraser University 72-66 Sunday afternoon.

“It’s good to get the kinks out a little bit,” head coach Wendy Schuller said after the game. “We obviously struggled offensively, especially in the first half. [We’re] just getting used to game speed,”

The Eagles got off to a slow start, shooting 28.4 percent from the field in the first half. SFU outscored EWU 16-13 in the first quarter and 19-13 in the second quarter to take a 35-26 lead into halftime.

Bailey Monteith
Senior Violet Kapri Morrow drives against SFU. Morrow scored a team high 27 points.

EWU came out hot in the third quarter, outscoring SFU 21-11. The Eagles then pulled away in the fourth quarter, with a 14-1 run to ice the game. Morrow scored 19 of her 27 points in the second half. EWU shot 59.4% in the second half and knocked down four of their five made threes.

“We were getting the ball inside a little bit,” Schuller said. “That helped quite a bit, because when you’re shooting layups you’re just going to make more [shots.]”

The Eagles had two players besides Morrow score in double figures. Junior forward Uriah Howard scored 11 points and added four assists. Senior forward Alissa Sealby had 11 points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Jessica McDowell-White and sophomore guard Brittany Klaman each had seven assists for EWU.

SFU was led in points by Tayler Drynan, who scored 14. Sienna Lenz had eight points and 10 rebounds.

EWU opens up the regular season on Sunday, Nov. 11 against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Schuller said the team will need to improve in order to pull off an upset win.

“We gotta get a lot better than we were today,” Schuller said. “There’s a lot of things we have to sharpen up. That’s a team who is really good.”

Tip-off is scheduled for 1:05 p.m at Reese Court. Admission is free to students who show ID.