Grand Forks, N.D. – Despite 47 combined points between senior Lexie Nelson and sophomore Jade Redmon, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting performance from host North Dakota, falling, 96-82, in a Big Sky Conference counter Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Betty Engelstad Center.

Win-Loss Records
The setback drops Eastern to 4-3 in league play and 11-7 overall while UND improves to 5-2 in conference games and 13-6 overall.

What It Means
After winning seven straight games and starting Big Sky play with four consecutive wins, the Eagles have dropped their last three outings. EWU is now tied for fifth in the league standings with Northern Colorado through four weeks of conference games.

Turning Point
EWU trailed by just four points after the first half, holding its own against a physical North Dakota team that shot 59.4 percent over the opening 20 minutes. The first five minutes of the second stanza saw UND go on an 11-4 run, however, opening up a 57-46 lead.

Eastern would trail by as many as 17 points but used a late charge to cut North Dakota's lead to seven, 76-69, with 3:49 remaining. UND's Leah Szabla converted a jump shot on the host's next possession, stopping the Eagles' run. EWU got no closer than eight points the rest of the way as North Dakota made a number of clutch free throws down the stretch.

Top Performers
Nelson led all scorers with 24 points, making all 10 of her attempts from the free throw line while burying a pair of three-pointers.

Redmon finished with a career-high 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting, going 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. She added a team-best eight rebounds, three assists and three steals to her impressive stat line.

Junior Hayley Hodgins added 14 points and four steals while freshman Delaney Hodgins chipped in with 11 points.

Key Statistics
The two teams combined to shoot 80 free throws as Eastern went 34-of-41 from the line (82.9 pct) while North Dakota made 28 of its 39 attempts (71.8 pct).

EWU shot 40.4 percent from the field on the day while UND connected at a 53.3-percent clip. Eastern made just two of its 14 attempts from three-point range while the hosts went 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

North Dakota outrebounded Eastern, 44-28, and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds to the Eagles' 11.

Quoting @EWUCoachSchu
"I thought that they got too many easy shots, especially inside. They did most of their damage from the paint and the free throw line. We did a good job of forcing them to take a tough shot initially, but we gave up too many offensive rebounds and layups. It's hard to win a game when you do that. I knew North Dakota and Northern Colorado were going to be two physical teams going into this road trip, and we didn't do the things we needed to do from a toughness standpoint to get it done."

Game Notes
* Redmon's 23 points were nine more than her previous career high of 14, which she had tallied three different times, most recently against Boise State back on Dec. 14. She also set new career highs in free throws made (11) and attempted (14) and field goals attempted (12).

* Eastern's 34 made free throws and 41 free throw attempts surpassed the team's previous season highs of 23 makes against Gonzaga back on Dec. 3 and 28 attempts versus Portland State on Jan. 15. Those marks are the most since EWU went 36-of-46 against Gonzaga back on Dec. 9, 2006.

* EWU is now 1-6 on the season and 0-2 in Big Sky play when shooting at a lower percentage than its opponent.

Tweet of the Game

Up Next
Eastern concludes its three-game road swing with a Big Sky contest at Idaho next Saturday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. PT.