SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Junior Alyson Thurman tallied a team-high 10 points but the Eagles shot 60.0 percent from the floor as the Sacramento State women’s basketball team fell to Eastern Washington, 91-54, in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday evening at the Hornets Nest.The Hornets dropped to 1-20 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky while the Eagles improved to 12-9, 5-3.
Thurman, who finished 4-of-7 from the floor, led the Hornets in scoring for the first time while also recording her first double-digit scoring effort since tallying 12 points at Idaho State on Feb. 9, 2002. Thurman would leave the contest wih seven minutes remaining due to an injured left elbow. Freshman Jessica Voisard led the squad with six rebounds and tied junior Kristine Knowlton with two blocked shots on the evening. Freshman Stephanie Cherry collected four assists and junior Tyeisha Brown led the squad with three steals. Voisard, a native of Mission Viejo, Calif., has now led the squad in rebounding for four-consecutive games.
Kathleen Nygaard led Eastern Washington with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and an 8-for-8 effort from the free-throw line. Julie Page (16), Stephanie Ulmer (15) and Joanna Chadd (12) also tallied double-figures for the Eagles.
As a team, the Hornets finished 20-of-59 (.339) from the floor compared to EWU’s 35-for-58 (.603) performance. The Eagles also out-rebounded the Hornets by a margin of 34-to-32. It marked the first time the Hornets have allowed an opponent to shoot over 60.0 percent this season.
In the first half, EWU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead (18:07) before Sacramento State answered with a 4-0 run to close within one at the 16:13 mark. The Eagles answered with a 10-0 run to make it 15-4 (13:41) until the Hornets answered with an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 19-15 with 9:28 remaining. After a 7-0 run by EWU, Sacramento State used an 8-0 run to make it 26-23 at the 6:10 mark. The Eagles held their biggest advantage of the half (37-23) before a pair of free throws by senior Danielle Iceman and a last second jumper by Brown made it 37-27 at halftime.
In the second half, EWU opened the period with a 14-3 run to make it 51-30. The Eagles increased their lead to 36 (71-35) after outscoring the Hornets, 20-5, in the next 6:20 to seal the game.
Sacramento State will next host Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.
