Cheney, Wash. - With four weeks of Big Sky Conference games remaining, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team looks to maintain its spot atop the league standings with road games at North Dakota and Northern Colorado.
Eastern (16-7, 10-1 Big Sky) will take on North Dakota on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. PST, and Northern Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 12 p.m. PST.
EWU had plenty of success last week, extending its winning streak to three games with a 72-65 win over Northern Arizona on Thursday, Feb. 4, and a 64-53 comeback victory against Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Eagles remain tied for first place in the Big Sky standings with Montana State, as both teams sit at 10-1 in the conference.
After trailing NAU at halftime, Eastern played the second half at an absolutely torrid pace. Improving its field goal percentage from 33.3 percent in the first half to 53.3 percent in the second, EWU scored 48 second half points, doubling its total from the first half. Sophomore Delaney Hodgins and junior Tisha Phillips led the team with 15 points each, shooting 5-of-14 and 4-of-9, respectively.
Holding the SUU offense to only 32.3 percent shooting from the field, the Eagles were able to comeback from a late-game 10-point deficit, despite their own offensive struggles. Overall, EWU shot 40 percent from the field, while senior Hayley Hodgins and Delaney Hodgins led the team in scoring with 19 points each. Hayley Hodgins shot 7-of-14 from the field, and Delaney Hodgins shot 7-of-15 while leading the team with six rebounds.
North Dakota (11-11, 7-4 Big Sky) took a loss to Eastern at Reese Court earlier this season, 60-57. Even though the Eagles were held to their lowest field goal percentage on the season, they came out on top thanks to a great performance from Delaney Hodgins, where she recorded a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Recently, UND topped Weber State in overtime 85-78, on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Fighting Hawks are currently on a six game winning streak, and own a home record of 8-2, 4-1 Big Sky. North Dakota is averaging 61.9 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting, and 39.2 rebounds per game with a +8.8 rebounding margin.
Senior Mia Loyd is second on the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game, while shooting a team best 49.5 percent from the field. She also leads North Dakota with 8.2 rebounds per game.
Northern Colorado (10-11, 5-6 Big Sky) faced EWU in its Big Sky Conference opener on New Year's Eve, falling 59-55 at Reese Court. Eastern shot an efficient 48.9 percent from the field while holding UNC to 34.5 percent shooting. The Bears are averaging 62.5 points per game on 40.9 percent shooting from the field. They are a good three point shooting team, averaging 8.0 threes per game while shooting 33.7 percent.
Sophomore Savannah Scott leads the team in scoring with 10.1 points per game on 53.2 percent field goal shooting. She also leads the team with 5.0 rebounds per game.
