MT. PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team looks for its first win of the 2016-17 season this weekend as the Eagles continue their stay in the Preseason WNIT with a pair of contests in the Central Michigan quadrant of the Consolation Bracket. EWU takes opens with Elon on Friday (Nov. 18) at 1:30 p.m. PT then play either the host Chippewas or Furman University on Saturday (Nov. 19).
Eastern Washington looks to rebound for a 100-52 loss at No. 15/17-ranked Washington in the First Round of the Preseason WNIT. Despite the loss, a trio of upperclassmen had a strong showing against the Huskies, as junior Delaney Hodgins and redshirt senior Tisha Phillips each scored double-digits points, while senior Ashli Payne pulled down a game-best 10 boards last Friday.
The duo of Hodgins and Phillips scored a combined 25 of the Eagles' 52 points against a Husky team coming off a Final Four appearance. Hodgins, a Preseason All-Big Sky first teamer, tallied a team-best 13 points, while the fifth-year senior Phillips got her final season with EWU started off with a 12-point outing against the No. 15/17-ranked team in the Nation.
Preseason WNIT Consolation Bracket
The Eagles move into the Consolation Bracket of the Preseason WNIT after dropping its First Round contest at Washington last Friday. Eastern Washington was selected to the Central Michigan Quadrant of the bracket and will be joined by Elon, Furman and the host Chippeawas in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
EWU opens up the quadrant with Elon this Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT, and will play either Central Michigan or Furman. If the Eagles are pitted against the Paladins, then they will play at 1:30 p.m. PT on Saturday. If they play the host Chippewas, then they will play at 4 p.m. PT.
All-Time Series
Elon: Friday will be the first-ever matchup between the Eagles and the Phoenix. Elon comes out of the Colonel Athletic Association, and Eastern is 1-1 all-time against the CAA with a win against Northeastern and a loss against Hofstra.
Central Michigan: The Chippewas and Eagles have never met on the basketball court for a women's contest if they do indeed matchup on Saturday. EWU is 4-3 all-time against teams from the Mid-American Conference.
Furman: Like the other two teams in Mt. Pleasant this weekend, if Eastern does play the Paladins, it will their first-ever matchup. Furman comes out of the Southern Conference, and if the Eagles meet up with the Paladins, it will be the first time in program history that EWU has faced a team out of the SoCon.
Hodgins Extends Her Scoring Streak
Junior Delaney Hodgins tallied 13 points in the season-opening loss at No. 15/17 Washington to extend her double-digit scoring streak to 18-straight games, dating back to last season. The streak began back on Jan. 14, 2016 with a 21-point outing at Southern Utah.
Hodgins has been a model of consistency since arriving to Cheney in the 2013-14 season, as the Pasco, Washington native has scored double-digits in 52 of her 66 career games at Eastern.
Letting It Fly
Eastern has the Big Sky's second-longest active streak with at least one three-point field goal made in 303 consecutive games, trailing only Sacramento State (360).
Rebounding Machine
Junior Ashli Payne has pulled down 258 rebounds in her first season in Cheney, good for sixth in Eastern's NCAA Division I single-season record book. She recorded a season-best 18 boards in EWU's 100-97 win over Sacramento State in last season's Big Sky Tournament, a mark that tied for third all-time in league tournament history.
Payne got her 2016-17 season started off on a strong note, as she pulled down a game-best 10 boards at No. 15/17 Washington last Friday.
Returning in Bulk
Despite graduating the school's all-time leading scorer last season, the Eagles return three players who made up 53 percent of the team's scoring last season along with four starters who a team that won 20 games. Junior Delaney Hodgins (15.7 ppg), senior Ashli Payne (11.2 ppg) and senior Tisha Phillips (10.9 ppg) return a combined 37.8 of the team's 71.8 points-per-game average from a year ago, while junior Mariah Cunningham also returns after making all 32 starts last season.
The trio made up 60 percent of the team's scoring in the season-opening loss at No. 15/17 Washington, as Hodgins had a team-best 13 points, Phillips scored 12 and Payne contributed six points.
Knowing Your Opponent: Elon
The Phoenix stand at an even 1-1 heading into Friday's matchup against Eastern Washington. Elon dropped its season opener at Green Bay, 71-56, in the First Round of the Preseason WNIT, but rebounded with a 66-54 victory over Rutgers out of the Big Ten in its home opener on Monday night.
Elon features a trio of double-digit scorers in Lauren Brown (15.0), Shay Burnett (14.5) and Ra'Shika White (10.0). The Phoenix average 61.0 points per game, but shoot just 38.3 percent from the field. Burnett is coming off a 20-point effort in the victory against Rutgers.
Teams have had some difficulty hitting the deep shot against the Phoenix this season, as they've only allowed a 21.1 percent success rate on 3-point field goals. In all, Elon is limiting its opposition to just a 36.8 shooting percentage from the field. The Phoenix are prone to turnovers however, as they are averaging 20 turnovers per game through their first two contests.
Knowing Your Opponent: Central Michigan
Like Eastern Washington, the Chippewas faced a Top-15 opponent to open their stay in the Preseason WNIT, as CMU fell at now No. 1-ranked Notre Dame, 107-47. Central Michigan is coming off a 22-11 season a year ago, where they hosted a First Round game against IUPUI in the WNIT.
Aleah Swary scored a team-best 15 points off the bench against the Irish last Friday, while Tinara Moore posted 10 points in a starting role. Central Michigan will look for a better offensive output this weekend at home, as they shot just 27.0 percent from the field against Notre Dame.
The Chippewas will also look to improve on the defensive end, as they ran into a Notre Dame team that shot 61.5 percent against them in the season opener from South Bend, Indiana.
Knowing Your Opponent: Furman
The Paladins opened the year with a 60-47 defeat at Fordham in the First Round of the Preseason WNIT. Furman is coming off a 15-16 season a year ago, where they went an even 7-7 in the Southern Conference.
The Paladins got a pair of double-digit scoring performances against the Rams, as center DeAnneisha Jackson scored a game-best 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. Guard Whitney Bunn tallied 12 points and handed out five assists in the loss. Furman shot just 31.6 percent from the field against Fordham, and struggled even more from behind the arc, as they went 5-of-24 in 3-point field goals.
Furman allowed Fordham to shoot 42.6 percent from the field in Friday's loss, and they allowed a 43.8 success rate from behind the arc, as the Rams hit 7-of-16 from 3-point land.
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