Weber State University Athletics
Saturday, January 28
Ogden
1:00 p.m.
Weber State University
5-16,1-8Big Sky
68
vs
65
Eastern Washington
13-7,6-4Big Sky
1
2
3
4
F
Eastern Wash.
18
8
26
13
65
Weber St.
18
14
14
22
68
Photo by: Robert Casey
Wildcats Fend Off Late Eagle Rally, Notch First Conference Win
1/28/2023 4:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah – Weber State women's basketball got back on track on Saturday afternoon with a 68-65 win over the Eastern Washington Eagles.
It was a back-and-forth first period in The Dee Events Center. Jadyn Matthews scored half of her team-leading 14 points in the first quarter, including a three pointer to give WSU an 11-9 lead early on. The two teams went back and forth and terminated the quarter with an 18-18 deadlock.
The second quarter was all Wildcats. Weber State outscored EWU 14-8 in the second, and totaled eight points in the paint to give them a 32-24 edge as the two squads broke for the locker rooms. Matthews led the 'Cats with 10 points, Laura Taylor had nine points of her own on 3-5 shooting from the floor.
The pendulum swung back in favor of Eastern Washington in the third quarter. The Eagles shot 9-16 from the floor in the third quarter and rode the hot shooting to a 26-point effort to nab the lead from the Wildcats. EWU led 52-46 after three quarters and the Wildcats went to their team huddle looking for answers.
"Keep our composure. We needed to keep control of it and know who we needed to stop, " Taylor said of what head coach Velaida Harris told the team in that huddle. "Know where each other (are) and make sure that we're communicating so that they're not getting easy looks like they were in the third."
WSU did just that and found answers in the familiar form of their senior class.
The Eagles extended their lead with a pair of free throws to open the fourth, but a Kaiija Lesane three pointer got things started for Weber State. Taylor followed that up with an outside shot of her own to cut the deficit to just two points. EWU re-established a three-point lead, but WSU went on a 10-0 scoring run, eight of those ten points coming from WSU seniors, to take a seven-point lead.
Weber State never relinquished the lead from there.
A late EWU rally closed the gap to just two points with mere seconds remaining, but the Weber State defense stayed disciplined and held strong. The Eagles had the ball down three with just nine seconds left, but never got a clean look at the hoop and Weber State wrapped up a 68-65 dub – WSU's first Big Sky Conference win of the season.
NOTABLES
-Weber State outshot EWU from the field 49%-39.6%.
-The Wildcats had ten more rebounds than the Eagles gathered (35-25).
-Four Wildcats scored ten or more points in Saturday's outing (Daryn Hickok, Matthews, Taylor, Ava Williams).
-Weber State's bench scored 20 points compared to just eight for EWU.
-WSU's win snaps EWU's five-gave winning streak.
UP NEXT
Weber State continues its home stand with a game on Saturday, February 4 against Idaho State. That game will be in The Dee Events Center and will tip off at noon. All Big Sky Conference games can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State women's basketball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
It was a back-and-forth first period in The Dee Events Center. Jadyn Matthews scored half of her team-leading 14 points in the first quarter, including a three pointer to give WSU an 11-9 lead early on. The two teams went back and forth and terminated the quarter with an 18-18 deadlock.
The second quarter was all Wildcats. Weber State outscored EWU 14-8 in the second, and totaled eight points in the paint to give them a 32-24 edge as the two squads broke for the locker rooms. Matthews led the 'Cats with 10 points, Laura Taylor had nine points of her own on 3-5 shooting from the floor.
The pendulum swung back in favor of Eastern Washington in the third quarter. The Eagles shot 9-16 from the floor in the third quarter and rode the hot shooting to a 26-point effort to nab the lead from the Wildcats. EWU led 52-46 after three quarters and the Wildcats went to their team huddle looking for answers.
"Keep our composure. We needed to keep control of it and know who we needed to stop, " Taylor said of what head coach Velaida Harris told the team in that huddle. "Know where each other (are) and make sure that we're communicating so that they're not getting easy looks like they were in the third."
WSU did just that and found answers in the familiar form of their senior class.
The Eagles extended their lead with a pair of free throws to open the fourth, but a Kaiija Lesane three pointer got things started for Weber State. Taylor followed that up with an outside shot of her own to cut the deficit to just two points. EWU re-established a three-point lead, but WSU went on a 10-0 scoring run, eight of those ten points coming from WSU seniors, to take a seven-point lead.
Weber State never relinquished the lead from there.
A late EWU rally closed the gap to just two points with mere seconds remaining, but the Weber State defense stayed disciplined and held strong. The Eagles had the ball down three with just nine seconds left, but never got a clean look at the hoop and Weber State wrapped up a 68-65 dub – WSU's first Big Sky Conference win of the season.
NOTABLES
-Weber State outshot EWU from the field 49%-39.6%.
-The Wildcats had ten more rebounds than the Eagles gathered (35-25).
-Four Wildcats scored ten or more points in Saturday's outing (Daryn Hickok, Matthews, Taylor, Ava Williams).
-Weber State's bench scored 20 points compared to just eight for EWU.
-WSU's win snaps EWU's five-gave winning streak.
UP NEXT
Weber State continues its home stand with a game on Saturday, February 4 against Idaho State. That game will be in The Dee Events Center and will tip off at noon. All Big Sky Conference games can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State women's basketball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Team Stats
EWU
Weber
FG%
.396
.490
3FG%
.235
.667
FT%
.950
.737
RB
25
35
TO
17
20
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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