Cheney, Wash. - After clinching a first-round bye at next week's Big Sky Conference Basketball Tournament, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team wraps up its regular season with road games at Idaho State and Weber State.
Eastern (19-9, 13-3 BSC) tips off against Idaho State (13-14, 6-10 BSC) at 6 p.m. PST on Wednesday, Mar. 2, and Weber State (18-9, 10-6 BSC) at 6 p.m. PST on Friday, Mar. 4.
The Eagles are guaranteed a top-four seed at next week's league tournament, but hope remains for a Big Sky regular season title and the No. 1 overall seed. EWU sits in second in the conference standings heading into the week, one game back of Montana State. Eastern can clinch the tournament's top seed by going 2-0 this week coupled with MSU going 1-1 in its two games at Northern Colorado and North Dakota. EWU could also afford to drop one of its two contests this week if Montana State goes 0-2.
Last week, the Eagles won an important game against Idaho, 84-70, on Saturday, Feb. 27. It marked their second win of the season over their local rival. It was senior day for Eastern, as they gave senior Hayley Hodgins a great send off at Reese Court. The offense played exceptional basketball the entire game, shooting 60 percent from the field. The offense was highlighted during a 26 point fourth quarter that included a 22-8 run to finish the game. Junior Tisha Phillips led the team in scoring with 22 points on an efficient 10-of-13 shooting from the field. She also led the team with six assists. Hayley Hodgins scored 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting.
On the season, Hayley Hodgins has averaged a team leading 20.9 point per game while shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from three-point range. Hodgins recently moved up to 8th all-time on the Big Sky scoring leaderboard with 1,769 career points. She is within reach of the next spot owned by Idaho's Mary Raese (1983-87) at 1,785 points.
This is will be EWU's first matchup of the season against Idaho State, who is just coming off an 82-80 overtime loss against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 27. ISU averages 63.1 points per game on 40.9 percent shooting.
Senior Anna Policicchio leads the team in scoring 13 points per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from three. She is second on the team in rebounds at 5.8 per game, and leads the team in blocks by a large margin with 2.5 per game.
Weber State will also be facing the Eagles for the first time this season. The Wildcats recently lost to Montana on the road, 84-75. WSU averages 68 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting, compared to Eastern's average of 71.1 points per game on 43.9 percent shooting. Weber State also plays pesky defense, averaging 11.4 steals per game.
Senior Regina Okoye leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game while shooting an excellent 50.4 percent from the field. She is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 6.7 per game.
