SPOKANE, Wash. - Seven free throws in the final 38 seconds was the difference maker for the Gonzaga University women's basketball team Friday. The Bulldogs used the charity stripe down the stretch, sinking 7-of-10, to defeat Eastern Washington University 75-69 in front of 5,376 fans at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs, rebounding from a tough seven-point loss to USC, improved to 6-2 on the year with the win, while the Eagles dropped to 4-5 overall.

"I was really impressed with Eastern Washington," explained Gonzaga head coach Kelly Graves after his team squeaked out the six-point victory. "I think Coach Schuller has a really nice team. For a good portion of the game they played harder than us and I give them a lot of credit. I was happy with the way we executed and got after it down the stretch though."

Gonzaga struggled offensively for the second-straight game as it shot just 36.8 percent (14-for-38) from the field in the first half and went into the locker room down six to Eastern Washington, 39-33. It was just the fourth time in 20 home games the Bulldogs were down at half and the largest deficit since Nov. 21, 2010 when they were down 45-37 to Stanford University.

The Eagles dominated the boards in the opening 20 minutes, holding the 24-15 edge and was led by senior Chene Cooper who had a hand in 10 of their 15 first half buckets. Cooper finished with 11 points and dished out seven assists. She also grabbed five rebounds and had one steal.

The Bulldogs were able to tie the ballgame three minutes into the final half as they strung together a quick 8-2 spurt to knot the score at 41-41. Gonzaga finally took the lead at 43-42 - its first since leading 9-7 at 17:27 in the first half - on a jumper by sophomore Jazmine Redmon at the 16:17 mark.

The game went on to have eight more lead changes and eight more tie scores.

The Eagles largest lead in the final 17 minutes was three points at 54-51 with 11:36 to play.

The Bulldogs biggest lead - until the final 38 seconds - was four points at 68-64 with 4:52 to play. It was redshirt sophomore Haiden Palmer's second 3-pointer in two minutes that gave Gonzaga the four-point edge.

A 5-0 run by Eastern Washington had the Eagles leading 69-68 with 2:38 to play.

Neither team could find the bucket though until Bulldog senior Kayla Standish was hacked and sent to the line with 38 ticks remaining. She sank both giving Gonzaga the one-point edge at 70-69.

EWU's Chenise Pakootas was fouled the next trip down the floor but missed the front end of the one-and-one and Standish came up with the big rebound. She was fouled right away and hit one-of-two at the charity strip with 19 seconds left to put the score at 71-69. Luckily for GU, Palmer grabbed the offensive board and then she hit one-of-two at the line to make it a 3-point game. Despite missing the second free throw, Palmer amazingly came up with the offensive board yet again and forced the Eagles to foul Jazmine Redmon. Redmon did the same as Standish and Palmer, sinking the front end of the double-bonus, but missed the second. But Gonzaga again out-muscled Eastern Washington for the rebound as Standish brought down her ninth of the game. Standish didn't leave anything to chance, sinking both free throws this time with nine seconds left to give GU the insurmountable 75-69 edge.

"Those offensive boards on the free throws were obviously big," stated Graves, whose team closed out the game with 22 offensive rebounds.

Standish and senior Katelan Redmon led the Bulldogs with 13 points each. Standish also had five steals, four blocks and two assists in 27 minutes of play. Senior Kelly Bowen added 12 points and Palmer finished with 11, all coming in the second half.

Eastern Washington was led by Cooper and Carrie Ojeda with 16 points each. Cooper added 10 assists, eight boards and four steals.

Gonzaga returns to action Sunday when it hosts the University of Montana. Game time is set for 2 p.m.