“We competed really hard today,” Head Coach Carrie Eighmey said after Idaho’s 62-52 loss to Eastern Washington on Feb. 10.
The Vandals were able to keep it close in the first half, trailing by just four at halftime. However, a rough final six minutes of the third quarter took away Idaho’s chances of the upset.
Sophomore guard Asha Phillips hit a layup with 6:44 left in the third, making it a three-point game, but then the Eagles started soaring. Twenty seconds later, junior small forward Jaydia Martin hit a three, which kicked off an 11-0 run for EWU.
After getting outscored 17-9 in the third, it was apparent that Idaho was gassed. Eastern led by as much as 16 in the fourth quarter, and there was no time left for the Vandals to try and make a comeback.
Despite the loss, Idaho was able to learn a lot from this game. With graduate student forward Hope Butera out for the season, the Vandals have been looking for other forwards to step up. Sophomore forward Sarah Brans has been the main option, but junior forward Skylar Bea has gotten more minutes in rotation recently.
“We’ve made some progress since Hope’s been gone, trying to figure out this team, and Skylar has been a huge part of that,” Eighmey said. “(She’s) stepping up defensively, just being able to give us a different look. Today, it was a lot of her and Sarah Brans back and forth.”
Bea had a career night in the 18 minutes she played against EWU. She put up seven points and six rebounds, both of which are career highs.
Leading the Vandals was Sarah Schmitt. The graduate student guard has been more of a facilitator for Idaho this season, but she led the team in scoring on Saturday, while also being an anchor on defense. She put up 16 points, four steals and five rebounds, four of which were defensive.
For Eastern Washington, there were three players who scored in double digits, but one who stood out among the rest. Graduate student guard Jamie Loera, or the “best point guard in the league” as Eighmey put it, scored 11 points, dished out six assists, pulled down five rebounds, grabbed two steals and blocked one shot.
Although the Eagles swept the regular season against the Vandals for the first time since the 2015-2016 season, there’s still a good chance they match up once more. Eastern currently sits at #2 in the Big Sky while Idaho is at #7. If both teams stay where they’re at, and Idaho wins the #7 versus #8 play-in game, the two teams would get another shot at each other in the Big Sky Women’s Basketball Championship.
However, the tournament is still a month away, and both teams have games against Weber State and Idaho State this week. Idaho will get the first shot at Weber on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. before taking on ISU at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17. Both games will be on the road and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu or on X @jamesaldrich25