BOISE, Idaho — The No. 5 Montana Lady Griz saw their season come to a close on Monday afternoon as they fell to No. 4 Eastern Washington 72-64 at Idaho Central Arena.
Jamie Loera and Aaliyah Alexander each scored 23 points for EWU who shot the ball at a 40.9% clip from the field. Loera and Jacinta Buckley each had nine rebounds and Loera had the near triple-double with seven assists as well.
The Lady Griz started fast in a track meet between the two schools, and while the two teams went back and forth, UM led by as much as 31-22 in the second quarter.
In the final 6:31, Eastern Washington responded and went on a 19-4 run to take the game over to go into halftime up 43-35.
EWU (19-10) came out hot again but UM trimmed the deficit to 51-49 with 3:34 left in the third quarter after a basket from Carmen Gfeller. But that was as close as they got, as EWU finished the third quarter with a 57-49 lead.
UM got within five at 65-60 with 3:28 to go, but was unable to catch up to the Eagles fully as the Lady Griz continue to have just one victory in the Big Sky Conference tournament since the tournament went to a neutral site format in 2016.
Gfeller led Montana with 18 points while Sammy Fatkin and Gina Marxen each added 12 for Montana who finishes the season 14-16.
This story will be updated.
