Basking in a tournament glow

‘This is a treat for us to get to play on this national stage’

Eastern Washington women’s basketball head coach Joddie Gleason has a pretty vivid memory of what she was doing the last time her Eagles qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

It was 37 years ago in 1987 when Eastern lost to Oregon at Eugene in a first-round game 75-56. Gleason quickly recalls she was in high school and was following her dad’s Colusa High School boys’ basketball team on the way to a state championship.

Joddie Vossler, her name prior to marriage to Skip Gleason (EWU’s associate head coach) would later go on to notable a playing career at Chico State. There she would break program records and earn numerous hall-of-fame nominations.

Gleason next embarked on the journey that led she and her family to Cheney in 2021 with coaching stops at Butte Community College, Humbolt State and Seattle U.

The cascade of congratulations flowing her team’s way is both deserved and more than welcome, Gleason said. “We’ll take it, you can throw it out as much as you want.”

This third edition of her Eagles team has been record-setting on multiple levels with a 29-5 overall record and a 16-2 win to a Big Sky regular-season championship. Earlier Eastern put together a 10-game run. Currently the Eagles are on a 13-game winning streak, the key “W” their 73-64 Big Sky tournament title win over Northern Arizona, March 13.

“This team is ultra-special, they do it the right way,” Gleason said. “They work really, really hard, they play together and are unselfish and play for each other. So, it’s just kind of a dream team for us.”

And a potential nightmare opponent for Pac-12 Oregon State, Friday at 5 p.m. in Corvallis against the Beavers. It’s a No. 3 vs. No. 14 seed matchup at rustic Gill Coliseum.

On any given night Aaliyah Alexander (14.7 points per game), Jamie Loera (13.2), Jaleesa Lawrence (10.9) and Jacinta Buckley (9.8) have taken turns torching the net.

“We do have like a quad or a quintuplet (threat),” Gleason explained. “On any given night, we have four to five people that could score in double figures, that could score 20 for us.”

Gleason suggests that makes it a little tougher for teams to scout her Eagles. “You can’t really focus in on one or two (players).”

If that turns out to be an advantage for Eastern, it’s one that has come together over time.

It all started last year with Jaydia Martin who has been Eastern’s leading scorer for the past two years. Martin, the Big Sky’s “Freshman of the Year” in 2021-22, was a two-time all-league selection despite being injured halfway into conference play.

Next came an injury to Buckley and Gleason had to make the call to the bench for help.

“It really propelled Aaliyah Alexander and Jaleesa Lawrence into more of a scoring threat for our team,” Gleason said. “We had to tell them that ‘You guys need to take more shots.’”

That strategy out of necessity worked as Eastern played from a fourth-place regular season at 11-7 into the semifinals of the conference tournament and a 19-11 overall record. This followed Gleason’s initial season at 9-21.

Fast forward to this season.

“We have Jacinta Buckley back in the lineup who was out with an injury for eight or nine games,” Gleason said. “And that just has been huge for us in the conference tournament and in the final three games of regular season.”

Gleason calls Buckley, the product out of Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, “Just a catalyst for us at both ends of the court,” both on defense, offense, and rebounding.

“I think Jamie Loera and Aaliyah Alexander have been the primary focus for most defenses, so it just helps them get freed up a little bit more,” Gleason said.

And while the spotlight has shown brightly on this group, Gleason wanted to bring some attention to a pair of unsung heroes in Milly Knowles and Alexis Pettis.

“Knowles has been an anchor for us,” Gleason said of the import from England. “She is just the backline of our defense.”

When Gleason arrived in town it was Knowles who was one of those players that helped her learn everything about Eastern. “(She has) just has been a mainstay for us,” her coach said.

As for Pettis, “(She) has been that sixth woman for us for last couple of years and she’s just a little spark plug. “She guards the opponents point guards and really just tries to harass and enforce, get them out of their offense.”

Many will call it a big lift to suggest Eastern success as they return to a lightly traveled tournament trail.

But between the success to this point and the cast of characters well versed in the road to success as it stands, it’s very much business as usual in so many ways according to Gleason.

Everyone knows it is a bigger game but rather than be nervous the team emotion is that of excitement, recognizing they deserve to be here.

“And, you know, this is a treat for us to get to play on this national stage,” Gleason said.