Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Eastern Washington
Wildcats' strong effort comes up short
2/13/2011 6:04:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wildcats' strong effort comes up short in 73-67 loss to Eagles
Feb. 12, 2011
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OGDEN, Utah -- A valiant, spirited effort came up just short for the Wildcats on Saturday night. In front of its third largest home crowd of the season, the Weber State University women's basketball team fell to 73-67 to Eastern Washington in Big Sky Conference action at the Dee Events Center. Nearly all of the 744 fans in attendance sported pink attire as part of Weber State's PinkZone Initiative game. The PinkZone Initiative is a global effort by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to draw awareness nd support to the fight against breast cancer. More than 1,800 schools across the United State are taking part in the PinkZone Initiative. |
"I'm really proud of the players effort," Weber State coach Carla Taylor said. "The effort is there. We always have 2-3 players that give us great individual performances, but we've just struggled to consistently get everyone on the same page.
"We have a young, inexperienced team that is still learning," Taylor added. "We've started two freshmen and a sophomore the last two games."
Sophomore forward Amanda Hughes led the way for the Wildcats with 19 points and seven rebounds. Hughes hit 7-of-15 shots from the field and also collected two steals and a blocked shot.
Junior center Mikell Woodfield continued her solid play, notching her third career double-double and third in the past six games for Weber State. Woodfield finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman point guard Justine Johnson tied her career high with 12 points, and also had six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Senior forward Caitlin Anderson added 11 points, knocking down 7-of-9 free throws, giving Weber State four scorers in double figures.
Weber State led by as much as seven in the first half, taking a 13-6 lead with 12:41 remaining before the break. The Wildcats led 30-29 at halftime, but were outscored 44-37 in the second half.
WSU trailed by 10 points, 65-55, with 6:41 remaining in the game, but outscored the Eagles 12-3 over the next four minutes to close within a single point - 68-67 - with 2:03 left.
Hughes blocked Eastern Washington's Julie Piper with 1:37 on the clock, and the Wildcats perfectly executed an offensive set to get sophomore guard Megan Patterson open for a potential go-ahead 3-pointer. The shot, however, was short and the Eagles escaped despite hitting just 3-of-6 free throws over the final 67 seconds.
Saturday's game briefly put an end to a lengthy road trip that has seen Weber State face four straight games away from the Dee Events Center, including three consecutive against the Big Sky's top three teams.
Weber State (5-17, 1-9 Big Sky) returns to the Big Sky road next week, traveling to Portland, Ore., on Thursday to face Portland State and then a rematch with Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., on Saturday.
