Pocatello, Idaho – Junior Hayley Hodgins and senior Lexie Nelson combined to score 46 points as the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team completed a road sweep in its first weekend of Big Sky Conference play, topping Idaho State, 88-75, Saturday, Jan. 3, at Reed Gym.

Win-Loss Records
Eastern improves to 2-0 in league play and 9-4 overall with the win while Idaho State sees its four-game winning streak snapped, falling to 1-1 in conference games and 6-7 overall.

What It Means
The victory extends EWU's winning streak to five straight games, its longest stretch of victories since the 2012-13 season. The Eagles also start Big Sky play with two wins for the second time in three years.

Turning Point
Idaho State had its offense rolling early, racing out to a 10-point advantage, 25-15, after 11 minutes of play. Hayley Hodgins converted inside to cut the Bengals' lead to eight and ignite what would prove to be a game changing run over the next eight minutes. Eastern would close the half scoring 20 of the final 24 points, holding the Bengals to 1-of-12 shooting in that span while forcing five turnovers.

A quick five-point burst from the hosts saw the Eagles' lead reduced to one, 35-34, just 30 seconds into the second stanza, but a 14-6 run over the next four minutes restored Eastern's advantage to nine points, 49-40, with 15:38 left. ISU would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as EWU's lead ballooned to as many as 20 points before settling on the final margin.

Top Performers
Hayley Hodgins led all scorers with 24 points, going 9-of-17 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range. She added a career-high six steals to her stat line.

Nelson finished with 22 points, making all six of her field goal attempts while going 9-of-10 from the free throw line. She had 18 of her points in the second half, and chipped in two rebounds and a pair of steals.

Freshman Delaney Hodgins added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Jade Redmon chipped in 10 points and dished out seven assists.

Key Statistics
Eastern shot better than 50 percent from the field for the second straight game, shooting at a 53.4-percent clip on the day. Idaho State also faired well from the field, shooting 52.5 percent.

The Eagles did a lot of damage from the charity stripe, going 21-of-26 from the free throw line. ISU took just 11 free throws, converting on nine of its attempts.

EWU scored 22 points off of the Bengals' 20 turnovers while Idaho State finished with 16 points off of Eastern's 16 miscues. Eastern also finished with 12 second chance points compared to ISU's four.

Quoting @EWUCoachSchu
"The biggest reason why we're having success offensively is that we're sharing the ball and playing to each other's strengths. At this point in the season, we're doing a good job of figuring out how different people score and making the extra pass when we need to. I have a lot of confidence in us as shooters, knowing we've put the time in. Our kids are really focused and playing very unselfishly.

"I thought our toughness was the biggest key behind us getting a road sweep. We're a little knicked up and had some kids play through some things against two really physical teams in difficult venues. We were a little road weary in the early going today, but we have a nice maturity about ourselves and understand how to take care of business. The Florida trip gave us a lot of confidence knowing we have the ability to go into someone's house, shoot the ball well and be successful."

Game Notes
* Today's game marked the second time this season that Hayley Hodgins and Nelson have scored at least 20 points in the same contest. Hayley Hodgins finished with 25 points and Nelson tallied 22 points against Central Washington back on Nov. 30.

* Nelson's 22 points move her into sixth all-time on EWU's career scoring list. She now has 1,153 career points in 75 career games.

* The win snaps Eastern's two-game losing streak to Idaho State and improves the Eagles' record to 10-19 versus the Bengals under head coach Wendy Schuller.

* EWU's 88 points are the most it has scored in a game this season. The Eagles also outscored Idaho State in bench points, 11-7, the first time this year they have recorded more bench points than an opponent.

Tweet of the Game

Up Next
Eastern returns to Reese Court for a game against Idaho in its Big Sky home opener on Saturday, Jan. 10. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. PT.