Cheney, Wash. – Down by three with four minutes left, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team closed the game on a 13-4 run to top Idaho, 71-65, in a Big Sky Conference game at Reese Court Saturday, Jan. 10.

Win-Loss Records
Eastern improves to 10-4 on the year and 3-0 in league play with the win while Idaho falls to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in conference games.

What It Means
Winners of six consecutive games, EWU is off to its best start in over a decade. The last time the Eagles were 10-4 through their first 14 games was back in 2002-03, head coach Wendy Schuller's second season on the bench.

Turning Point
Up by as many as 16 points in the first half, Eastern saw the Vandals rally back, cutting the deficit to seven points at the half before taking the lead just four minutes into the second stanza. It would be the first of six lead changes in the second half as the game went back and forth the rest of the way.

A jumper from junior Kayleigh Ryan gave EWU a seven-point cushion, 49-42, with 11:13 remaining, but the visitors reeled off an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to regain the lead, 50-49. With Eastern up two, 52-50, Idaho put away seven of the next nine points to take a three-point lead, 57-54, at the 5:34 mark. The Vandals led for the next 2:30 until a pair of free throws from sophomore Jade Redmon put EWU up one, 62-61, with 3:23 left to play.

Freshman Delaney Hodgins came up with a steal on Idaho's next possession before Redmon found senior Melissa Williams for a jumper, giving the Eagles' a three-point edge with 2:35 remaining. Still down three, the Vandals drew up a great play out of a timeout, but Idaho's Brooke Reilly missed a wide-open lay-up only to see Williams come up with the big defensive rebound. Williams calmly drained both free throws after being intentionally fouled, putting Eastern up five, 68-63, with 39 seconds left.

Idaho would not make another shot from the field the rest of the way as EWU went 3-of-4 from the line to close out the win.

Top Performers
Williams notched her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with a team-high 15 points and 13 rebounds. She was 6-of-14 from the field and made all three of her free throws, adding four assists and a steal.

Redmon finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.

Senior Lexie Nelson and Delaney Hodgins notched 12 points apiece as both went 5-of-10 from the floor. Delaney Hodgins pulled down eight boards and added three blocks and three steals while Nelson dished out a pair of assists.

Junior Hayley Hodgins made a number of big defensive plays, registering four steals, three rebounds and one block to go along with seven points and four assists.

Ryan came off the bench to score six points, tying her career high in just seven minutes of action. Sophomore Marly Anderson also finished with six points.

Key Statistics
Eastern shot 44.4 percent from the field while the Vandals connected at a 32.9-percent clip.

Idaho finished with 52 rebounds to the Eagles' 36, pulling down 20 offensive rebounds while limiting Eastern to just four offensive boards. Idaho tallied 19 second chance points to EWU's four.

EWU turned the ball over just 10 times while forcing Idaho into 15 miscues.

Quoting @EWUCoachSchu
"Sometimes, when you've been ahead like we were and the other team comes back to take the lead, it's easy to lie down and give up. I was glad to see that our team has that fortitude to fight through and get a stop, then turn around and get a basket and find a way to win. As Jon (Newlee, Idaho's head coach) and I walked by each other at the end, it's just like, 'Every year is this way.' It always comes down to the wire, and today's game was no different."

Game Notes
* EWU's six straight victories its good for the program's longest winning streak since the 2011-12 season.

* Eastern has now beaten Idaho in consecutive meetings for the first time since it won back-to-back games in 2004 and 2005. Neither team had strung together consecutive victories in the last eight encounters.

* Today's game was only the fifth time this season that EWU has been in a game decided by single digits. The Eagles are 3-2 in games decided by less than 10 points this season.

* EWU is now 9-0 on the year when shooting a higher percentage from the field than its opponent.

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Video Highlights

Up Next
Eastern continues its three-game home stand when Dam Cup rival Portland State visits Reese Court next Thursday, Jan. 15. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PT