BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The Eastern Washington University basketball team had four players score double figures on Thursday (Jan. 5) night, but that wasn't enough to lift the Eagles to a victory on the road, as they fell at Montana State, 88-83, in overtime to open their 2016-17 Big Sky Conference road schedule.
Junior Delaney Hodgins led a quartet of double-digit scorers for Eastern against the Bobcats with a team-best 19 points. Sophomore Violet Kapri Morrow posted a career-best 18 points in the loss, while redshirt senior Tisha Phillips posted 17 points and fellow classmate Ashli Payne chipped in 13 points.
Thursday's contest was tight from the get go, as the two teams played to 15 ties and 10 lead changes through four quarters. Neither team led by more than 10 points on the night, and the contest was at a standstill for 9:22 of game action.
"I was extremely proud of our effort in a hard place to play," said head coach Wendy Schuller after the game. "Montana State is a good basketball team. The discrepancy of free throw attempts, along with our inability to take care of the glass, was frustrating."
Eastern Washington held a two-point lead at 73-71 with 2:05 remaining in the contest after a Morrow fast break layup. The Eastern had multiple chances to put the game away at the end of regulation, but they could not find the put-away basket, as Montana State knotted the game up at 73-all with 47 seconds remaining. Both teams had a chance to seal a victory in regulation, but neither team could convert on their opportunity, sending the game into overtime.
The Bobcats took control of the contest during the extra five-minute period, as they scored five of the frame's first nine points to take a 78-75 lead with 2:16 left to play. The Eagles pulled within a point on their next possession, but MSU would answer with a 7-2 run to take a commanding six-point lead with 36 seconds left to play, which sealed the victory for the Bobcats.
Win-Loss Records: Eastern Washington falls to 6-7 overall on the year and 1-1 in Big Sky competition. For Montana State, they improve to 9-4 on the year and 2-1 in league play.
What It Means: With tonight's loss, Eastern drops its first Big Sky game of the season, moving them to 1-1 in league play. The loss also puts the Eagles back below the .500 mark on the year at 6-7.
Key Stats: Montana State owned the glass on Thursday, as they outrebounded the Eagles, 51-30. Despite being outrebounded by 21 caroms, Eastern was still able to hold a 14-13 advantage in second-chance points.
Free throws were also a big difference in Thursday's contest, as the Bobcats collected 35 free throws to Eastern's 16. MSU outscored EWU 27-11 at the charity stripe.
Turning Point: It looked as if Eastern Washington was about to mount a comeback against Montana State with a little more than two minutes remaining in overtime. Junior Delaney Hodgins hit a jumper that pulled the Eagles to within a point in overtime. However, MSU would responded with a 7-2 run after Hodgins' bucket to seal the overtime victory.
Top Performers: Junior Delaney Hodgins scored a team-best 19 points in the loss. She also added a team-best three assists and picked up four rebounds on the night.
Sophomore Violet Kapri Morrow scored a career-best 18 points on the night. Morrow went 6-of-15 from the field and hit a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. The sophomore also added a career-best six steals.
Reigning Big Sky Player of the Week Ashli Payne collected 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. She was the lone Eastern player to hit more than one 3-point field goal on the night, as she went 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
Notables: With tonight's loss, Eastern Washington now holds a slim 42-41 edge over Montana State in the all-time series between the two teams.
With 19 points tonight, junior Delaney Hodgins extends her double-digit scoring streak to a remarkable 30 games. The streak is currently the longest active streak in the Big Sky.
Senior Tisha Phillips recorded her third-straight game with double-digit points tonight with 17. The redshirt senior has scored 10-or-more points in all but two games this season.
With four 3-point field goals tonight, Eastern extends its streak of games with at least one 3-pointer made to 315.
What's Next: The Eagles end their two-game Big Sky road trip on Saturday with an afternoon contest against Montana. Tip-off from Missoula, Montana is set for 1:05 p.m. PT.
For more information on the Eastern Washington women's basketball team, follow @EWUWBB on Twitter and Instagram or like EWU women's basketball on Facebook.
