Cheney, Wash. – Senior Lexie Nelson became the 16th player in Eastern Washington University Women's Basketball history to score 1,000 career points, propelling the Eagles past visiting Central Washington, 83-70, in a nonconference game at Reese Court.

Win-Loss Records
Eastern improves to 3-2 with the win while the loss CWU drops to 3-2.

What It Means
The victory snaps a two-game skid for EWU and improves the Eagles' home record to 2-0 on the young season.

Turning Point
Up just four at the half, Eastern opened the second stanza on a 16-7 run over the first seven minutes to take its largest lead of the game to that point, 59-46. Four different Eagles scored in the game-changing run, including nine points from junior Hayley Hodgins.

Central would cut EWU's lead to seven, 70-63, with 5:36 remaining, but Eastern responded with five quick points to go up 12, 75-63, at the 4:04 mark. The visitors got no closer than nine the rest of the way as the Eagles' lead expanded to as many as 15 before settling on the final 13-point margin.

Top Performers
Hayley Hodgins led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She buried four of her six attempts from three-point range, setting a new season high in the process. She also led the Eagles in steals with three thefts.

Nelson poured in 22 points, burying 5-of-6 triples and finishing a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. She dished out a season-best four assists to only one turnover and grabbed three rebounds.

Senior Melissa Williams and freshman Delaney Hodgins added 11 points apiece. Wiliams led Eastern with six rebounds to go along with three assists and three blocks while Delaney Hodgings tallied four rebounds, four blocks, two assists and one steal.

Sophomore Jade Redmon notched seven assists while giving the ball away just once. She added six points and five rebounds to her stat line.

Key Statistics
The Eagles shot 51.6 percent in the second half while holding Central Washington to a 37.9-percent clip over the final 20 minutes.

Eastern turned the Wildcats over 15 times to the tune of 21 points while CWU registered just four points off of EWU's nine miscues.

CWU outrebounded Eastern, 35-30, and pulled down 11 offensive rebounds to the Eagles' nine. The Wildcats finished with 18 second-chance points compared to seven for EWU.

Quoting Coach Schuller
"Central shot the ball really well. We knew coming in that they were going to execute well offensively and that they had players who could shoot the ball. They came in here and did just that. I thought that, when we picked our pressure up a bit in the second half, we were able to pull away the way we wanted to. It's just a matter of convincing our team to put that pressure on for 40 minutes and not for 15.

"Lexie is incredibly important to our basketball program. She's been an important player for us for the last four years and she sets a standard in terms of competing every day and shows our players what work ethic is about. She's a popular teammate and does a great job of representing our program in all aspects. I'm happy for her to achieve that milestone."

Game Notes
* Nelson is the first women's basketball player to score 1,000 career points in an Eastern uniform since the 2011-12 season. She has reached double figures in scoring in 56 of the 66 games in which she has appeared while at EWU. She now has 1,013 career points.

* Hayley Hodgins has now scored in double figures in Eastern's last four games. She has tallied at least 20 points in two of those outings, including a career-high 30 points back on Nov. 18 against Wichita State.

* The Eagles improved to 3-1 on the year when shooting better than 40 percent from the field and a perfect 3-0 when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent.

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Up Next
Eastern welcomes regional foe Gonzaga to Reese Court this Wednesday, Dec. 3. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PT on SWX.