The University of Portland women’s basketball team extends its win streak to three with a 63-62 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles on Sun., Jan. 5 at the Chiles Center in Portland, OR Portland improves to 6-6 on the season, while EWU drops to 9-3 overall.

Portland jumped to a 37-28 lead at the half, after dominating offensively. The Pilots had as much as an 11 point lead over the Eagles, scoring 15 points off turnovers and 14 points from the bench. Eastern Washington shot just 1-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half and 39 percent from the field. Portland was a solid 54 percent from the field and an impressive 75 percent from three-point range before the break.

In the second half, Portland held the advantage until EWU closed the gap on a trey by Stephanie Ulmer, tying the game at 56-56 with just under five minutes to go in the game. Down the stretch, the Pilots out-scored the Eagles, 7-6 in the last few minutes of play to pull out the win and end a seven game win streak by Eastern Washington. On the night, Portland racked up 32 points in the paint and 26 points off Eastern Washington turnovers. EWU held the advantage on the boards, 36-30.

“We’re continuing to learn and getting better in crunch time each game we play,” said Head Coach Jim Sollars. “We recovered when it counted and we had a great effort by all of our players tonight.”

For the game, Khalila O’Rielly-Williams tallied 17 points, six rebounds five steals, two blocked shots and one assist. O’Rielly-Williams shot 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Michaela Dalgleish totaled 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from three-point range. Whitney Grant added eight points and a career-best seven assists, while Hanna Seltzer and Jamie Medley added six points each. Portland shot 43 percent (25-58) from the field, 25 percent (3-12) from behind the arc and 71 percent (10-14) from the free-throw line on the night.

“Khalila (O’Rielly-Williams) has done a nice job and has steadily improved her shooting percentages,” said Sollars. “She is putting up some great numbers for us and I am excited about this win.”

Stephanie Ulmer racked up 6-of-8 from behind the arc to lead all players with 20 points in the game. EWU teammate Kathleen Nygaard posted 17 points and nine boards, while Felice Moore added 10 points. The Eagles shot 44 percent (24-55) from the field, 44 percent (7-16) from behind the arc and 78 percent from the free-throw line in the game.

UP NEXT: The Pilots will host the Wyoming Cowgirls on Wed., Jan. 8 at 7:00 p.m.