The men’s and women’s basketball teams went 1-1 in the first week of Eastern Washington University basketball.
Last season, the EWU women’s basketball team won the Big Sky regular season and postseason championships, and the men’s team won the regular season championship. However, both teams saw major roster turnover this season.
Nine players graduated or transferred from the women’s team, including all six players who started at least 20 games. The men are in a similar situation, with all five starters, a part of eight total players, leaving. Former men’s head coach David Riley also took a coaching position at Washington State University. EWU hired Dan Monson as the new coach. Monson began his coaching career at Gonzaga, and most recently coached at Long Beach State University.
The women played the first game of the Eastern basketball season against Washington State on Monday, Nov. 4, and lost in overtime 83-82. Guard Peyton Howard, a graduate student who transferred to EWU this season from Seattle University, led the team with 25 points.
Junior guard Ella Gallatin, who played 7.4 minutes per game off the bench for the Eagles last season, made her first career start for EWU and scored 11 points. Also scoring 11 points was freshman power forward Jaecy Eggers, who was named to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State first team.
EWU led the Cougars at halftime 38-26, but were outscored 25-14 in the third quarter during WSU’s comeback. Washington State then won the fourth quarter 24-23 to push the game into overtime, where they were able to claim victory.
Senior guard Terra Wallack scored 21 points and had 5 blocks for the Cougars, while also getting 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore guard Eleonora Villa had 19 points.
Eastern Washington was able to bounce back on Saturday, Nov. 11 during their match against Walla Walla University. The Eagles won 81-33.
The first quarter was close, and EWU held an 18-15 lead going into the second quarter. The next three quarters were dominated by the Eagles, who outscored the Wolves by at least ten points in each period.
Gallatin scored 18 points and missed just one of her 9 shots. Sophomore power forward Bella Hays, new to the starting lineup this season, had 10 points and 4 rebounds against Walla Walla.
Graduate student guard Ellie Boni, freshman small forward Kourtney Grossman, senior guard Alexis Pettis, and Eggers each had 9 points. Eggers also contributed 8 rebounds.
The men’s team also played on Nov. 4, against Colorado. The Buffaloes defeated the Eagles 76-56.
Eastern Washington led at halftime 31-25. They were up 27-10 with 6:44 left in the half. Colorado went on a 15-4 run to close the gap before halftime, before outscoring the Eagles 51-25 during the second half.
The Buffaloes had four players score double-digit points. Freshman forward Sebastian Rancik scored 13 points, graduate student forward Trevor Baskin and junior guard Javon Ruffin each had 12 points, and graduate student forward Andrej Jakimovski had 11 points.
EWU’s top scorers were two players returning from last season. Junior Nic McClain made his first career EWU start after redshirting last season and scored 16 points while getting 3 steals. Sophomore forward Vice Zanki made 4 three-pointers off the bench, scoring 12 points.
The Eagles played at home on Wednesday, Nov. 6, and beat Seattle University 93-86.
The offense was clicking for both teams, who each scored over 50 points in the second half. The two teams combined for 21 total three-pointers. EWU shot 64.3% percent from the field in the second half, and 45.5% from three.
Two of Eastern’s starting guards, senior Andrew Cook and sophomore Mason Williams, led the way for the Eagles with 25 and 18 points. Cook transferred to EWU this year from Carroll College, while Williams played 17 games off the bench last season and has made his first two starts this year.
Two other young Eagles making their first career starts this season were also key contributors. Sophomore guard Sebastian Hartmann, who averaged 12.6 minutes per game last season, scored 16 points and had 6 assists. Freshman forward Emmett Marquardt, a redshirt last year, had 14 points and 6 rebounds.
This week, the men play Missouri on the road at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, and Cal Poly at home at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17. The women take on Washington in Seattle at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, and Portland in Cheney at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17.
