CHENEY, Wash. -- Alyssa Marin's milestone -- as well as the next win for her UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team -- will have to wait.
The senior guard missed 11 of her 14 shots to remain three points away from 1,000 for her career as the Gauchos lost a Friday-night chiller at Eastern Washington, 54-46.
UCSB (7-5) shot just 26.7% as a team (16-60) and made just two of its 22 attempts from three-point distance in its final tune-up before resuming Big West Conference play. It will take nearly two weeks off before playing host to Hawai'i on Jan. 2.
"That was a disappointing loss for our team," coach Renee Jimenez said. "We keep making some strides defensively and rebounding and then we take two steps backwards.
"We can't seem to put back-to-back games together and we need to figure that out quickly heading into Big West play."
The Gauchos' defense and rebounding were a strong combination in the first quarter. They took an 11-5 lead with 2:36 left in the period on a three-pointer by Jessica Grant.
Laurel Rockwood's basket kept them ahead at 13-9 to end the quarter. She and Skylar Burke had four rebounds apiece during the period as UCSB eked out a 13-12 advantage on the backboards.
Burke led the Gauchos with 11 points and nine rebounds.
But Eastern Washington out-rebounded UCSB 39-22 the rest of the way. It finished with 13 offensive rebounds to just four for the Gauchos and out-scored them in second-chance points, 11-0.
The Eagles won the rebound battle for the game, 51-35, to help them overcome a 30.8% shooting night.
"We have talked a lot this year about rebounding and how important it is for us with our lack of size," Jimenez said. "It's been the common thread in the game we have won.
"Our secret is simple: When we rebound, we win."
Eastern Washington pulled ahead 20-19 at halftime and then used a 16-2 run to start the second half to command a 36-21 lead.
Alexis Pettis led the Eagles with 17 points while Kourtney Grossman contributed a double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds.
Marin ended the Eagles' spree by making her first basket of the night with 5:20 left in the third quarter. She scored eight of her 10 points in the second half to extend her streak of double-figure games to 11.
Eastern Washington took its biggest lead of 16 points, 39-23, with 4:21 left in the third quarter. It out-scored the Gauchos 21-12 for the period.
UCSB finished the game on a 7-0 run, but it proved too little, too late.