Five members of the EWU women’s basketball team scored in double figures as the Eagles (7-8, 8-16) defeated Southern Utah (3-13, 6-19) Thursday by a score of 80-66.

EWU was led by freshman guards Grace Kirscher and Jessica McDowell-White, who scored 16 and 14 points. McDowell-White added five assists and four rebounds while leading the Eagle’s bench that outscored SUU’s 43-8.

“We had a lot of energy,” McDowell-White said. “As a team, we know what we can do. I think we went out there and played our style tonight.”

Senior guard Kapri Morrow contributed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Andie Easley (11) and junior forward Uriah Howard (10) added 10 scored in double figures off the bench. Freshman center Bella Cravens had four blocks, including three in the first quarter.

EWU shot 53.7 percent from the field with 67.5 percent in the second half. The Eagles canned 10 3-pointers to aid in the offensive onslaught.

“In the second half, we started attacking the lane a little bit more,” EWU head coach Wendy Schuller said. “I think that getting some layups and post touches and things allowed us to knock down some perimeter shots and relax a little bit out there.”

With the victory, EWU moves a half game back of Montana for sixth place, and one game back of Montana State for fifth place in the Big Sky Conference. UM and MSU face off against each other on Feb. 23 in Missoula. EWU swept UM this season and split two games with MSU. The top five regular season BSC finishers receive a bye in the BSC Tournament, which is in two and a half weeks.

EWU bounced back strongly against SUU after Monday’s heartbreaking, controversial defeat against Idaho. After the victory over the Thunderbirds, Schuller expressed gratitude for the support the team received from the Spokane community following the questionable result against the Vandals.

“I really appreciate the Spokane community and a lot of the media in Spokane,” Schuller said. “Standing up for what I’d call, whatever. For standing up for justice, I guess. We let them do the talking and we just got back to work. The team really responded well.”

A full recap of the Idaho game: https://theeasterner.org/45006/sports/eagles-stunned-by-vandals-in-controversial-finish/

EWU’s next game is a home tilt against Northern Arizona, which is ninth in the BSC currently. Tip-off from Reese Court is at 2:05 p.m. on Feb 23.