MISSOULA and CHENEY, Wash. -- The Montana basketball programs locked horns with Eastern Washington on Thursday evening. The UM women topped EWU 65-53 for their fourth straight victory, meanwhile the men fell to the Eagles 90-76 in Cheney, Washington.
Abby Anderson led the Lady Griz (11-7, 8-5 Big Sky Conference) with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks while Madi Schoening finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sophia Stiles added 12 points for Montana.
Maisie Burnham led Eastern Washington (6-14, 5-10) with 14 points. The loss was EWU's fifth straight.
The Lady Griz went back and forth with the Eagles before taking a 35-29 lead into halftime. Anderson scored 14 of her points in the second half and started the third quarter off with a 3-point play as Montana began to pull away. Anderson finished the night going 12 for 14 from the free throw line.
The Lady Griz finished shooting 37.5% from the field and 4 for 15 from deep but out-shot EWU from the free throw line, going 19 for 23 while the Eagles were 6 for 8. Eastern Washington finished shooting at a 36.2% clip from the field and went 5 for 22 from deep.
In the men's game, Eastern Washington shot out of the gates hot, shooting 19 for 22 from the field to start the game as the Eagles ultimately built a 47-20 lead with 6:24 to play in the opening half. Montana chipped away from there but was unable to get out of a double-digit deficit the rest of the way.
Robby Beasley finished with 25 points for Montana (9-11, 5-8), an early career-high for him as a Grizzly. Josh Bannan tallied 14 points and 7 rebounds while Eddy Egun added 16. Eastern Washington was led by Kim Aiken Jr. and Tyler Robertson, both of whom finished with 21 points, while Michael Meadows added 14 points and 5 assists and Tanner Groves added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Eastern Washington (11-6, 10-2) finished shooting 54.4% from the field and 11 for 20 from deep while Montana went 7 for 18 from 3-point range and finished with a 41.5% mark from the field.
The teams will flip locations on Saturday. The men will play in Missoula at noon while the women will play in Cheney at 1 p.m.
