Cheney, Wash. - Sitting on top of the Big Sky Conference with a perfect 7-0 record, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team travels to conference foes, Portland State and Sacramento State, this week.
Eastern (13-6, 7-0 Big Sky) will take on Portland State on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. PST, before moving on to Sacramento State on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 2:05 p.m. PST.
Last week, the Eagles earned two significant wins, dominating Montana State, 81-69, on Thursday, Jan. 21, while securing sole possession of first place in the Big Sky standings. On Saturday, Jan. 23, EWU topped rival Montana, 67-65, with the help of a last-second, game-winning shot from sophomore
Delaney Hodgins.
Against MSU, senior
Hayley Hodgins scored a career high 34 points in the game, aiding her to a Big Sky Conference Player of the Week award. Over the last two games she's averaged 28.5 points per game, while shooting 62.2 percent from the field, and 69.2 percent from three point range.
Portland State (2-15, 0-6 BSC) is struggling this season, and is currently on a six game losing streak. Its last victory came against CSUN at home, 83-77. EWU leads the all-time series 34-26, and has won the last three matchups. The Vikings average 69.3 points per game with a -22.1 scoring margin, shooting 34.8 percent from the field. Comparably, the Eagles average 68.2 points per game with a +2.7 scoring margin, on 42.9 percent shooting from the field.
Leading PSU in scoring is freshman Kian McNair, averaging 10.4 points per game on 35.3 percent shooting from the field. Sophomore Cici West, nearly averages a double-double scoring 9 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting, while grabbing 8.7 rebounds per game.
Sacramento State (7-10, 4-2 BSC) plays a unique, high-tempo offense that produces large quantities of points and shots. In the Big Sky Conference, they average 92.3 points per game, while giving up an average of 76.7 points to opponents. However, minus two 120-plus point games against Portland State, CSUS is averaging 74 points against conference opponents. On the season, the Hornets shoot 28.7 percent from three, while leading the entire NCAA Division I in three pointers made per game (12.1), and three point attempts (715). Eastern shoots the three ball at a 34.6 percent clip, good for 48th nationally, compared to a ranking of 261st for Sacramento State. The Hornets also lead the NCAA in steals per game (15.5), and rank second in offensive rebounds per game (20.0).
Senior Adella Randle-El leads the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game on 33.9 percent shooting. She also is tied for the lead in steal per game of 2.9 with sophomore Maranne Johnson. Six players on this Sacramento State average over one steal a game, while 10 players average at least 10 minutes per game.
