Dates	Dec. 17-20
Location	West Lafayette, Ind.
Opponents	Dec. 17: at Purdue Dec. 18: vs. Saint Mary's Dec. 20: vs. UT Martin
Live Stream & Stats	at Purdue: Big Ten Network BTN2Go | Stats vs. Saint Mary's: Stats vs. UT Martin: Stats
Twitter	@EWUWBB
Game Notes	at Purdue vs. Saint Mary's vs. UT Martin

CHENEY, Wash. – With Big Sky Conference play looming, the Eastern Washington women's basketball team is readying for its final three nonconference contests of the season. All three take place at the Basketball Traveler's Invitational on Dec. 17-20 in West Lafayette, Ind.
 
Purdue plays host to the invitational and are EWU's first opponent on Dec. 17 at 9 a.m. Pacific time. That game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network and BTN2Go. On Dec. 18, the Eagles face Saint Mary's at 1 p.m. PT before taking one day off and wrapping up the invitational against UT Martin on Dec. 20 at 8 a.m. PT.
 
Eastern Washington is currently riding a two-game win streak and have won three out of their last five contests, sitting at 4-5 and checking in at 283 in this week's RPI.
 
LAST TIME OUT: EWU picked up a thrilling 75-72 victory over Cal Poly on Monday evening after shooting a season-high 58 percent from the field. The Eagles had four in double figures, led by Delaney Hodgins who had 18. Uriah Howard and Violet Kapri Morrow each picked up 17 apiece while Symone Starks added ten.
 
The game saw 24 lead changes and 16 ties. Howard hit the game-tying three-pointer with 2:01 remaining and then sank both free throws with less than a minute left to help Eastern pick up the three-point victory.
 
A LOOK AT YOUR EAGLES: Eastern Washington averages 61.8 points per game and 34.6 rebounds per game. They rank 51st in the nation with 45 blocked shots and average five per game which is 41st. The Eagles also rank 20th in the nation with 12 steals per game and have 108 on the year which is 24th.
 
Senior Delaney Hodgins leads the team with 19.3 points per game, which is 48th in the nation and third in the Big Sky. She also leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. Her 2.22 blocks per game is 42nd in the nation and her 2.78 steals per game is 61st.
 
Symone Starks ranks 34th in the nation and first in the Big Sky with three steals per contest. Violet Kapri Morrow is the other Eagle averaging double figures with 11 points per game.
 
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS: Purdue checks in at 42 in the latest NCAA RPI and are 6-5 overall, having dropped three out of their last four contests. As a team, the Boilermakers average 69.8 points per game on 45.4 percent shooting and average 35.3 rebounds. Purdue ranks fifth in the nation in blocked shots with 65 and average 5.9 per game. They shoot 39.6 percent from behind the arc which ranks in the top-100 across Division I.
 
Purdue has three players that average double figures in Andreona Keys (13.7), Ae'Rianna Harris (13.0) and Lamina Cooper (11.3). Harris also grabs 8.6 boards a contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The two teams have only faced each other once in program history, 25 years ago on Dec. 20, 1992. Purdue was ranked No. 8 at the time and the Eagles fell 55-68 in West Lafayette. Eastern Washington is just 0-3 all-time against Big Ten opponents, and hasn't faced a member of the conference since Nov. 26, 2015 when they fell to No.19 Northwestern by four points, 70-74.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS: Saint Mary's is a hot shooting team, as they rank 19th in the nation with a field-goal percentage of 47.1 percent, averaging 75.9 points per game. Sitting at 5-3 overall, and on a two-game losing streak, they rank 65th in Division I with a three-point field-goal percentage of 36 percent. Saint Mary's checks in at 54 on this week's RPI and are No.16 in the Mid Major Poll.
 
The Gaels have three players average double figures in Megan McKay (15.6), Sydney Raggio (14.9) and Stella Beck (14.5). Saint Mary's averages 40 rebounds per game to their opponents 32.1.
 
GAELS' LEADING REBOUNDER ON OTHER SIDE: Eastern Washington first-year assistant coach Danielle Mauldin is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary's, and their all-time leading rebounder with 1,282 rebounds over four years, which is also a West Coast Conference record. She also sent a Saint Mary's program record in double-doubles and was named the ESPNW National Player of the Week after leading the nation in rebounds in 2014.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Eagles and Gael's have only met three times in program history, with EWU holding a 2-1 advantage. After picking up the first two meetings in 1992 and again in 2005, Eastern lost the last meeting which took place on Dec. 20, 2006.
 
This is the third opponent from the West Coast Conference that the Eagles will face this season, dropping to both BYU (69-73) and Gonzaga (45-69) earlier this season. They are 34-57 all-time against teams from the WCC.
 
SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS: UT Martin is 4-5 overall, winning three out of their last five contests with those two losses coming against Louisville and Chattanooga. The Skyhawks are 29th in the nation in three-point field goals per game with 8.9 and are shooting 36.4 percent from behind the arc. They also force 21.1 turnovers per game and rank 50th in the nation in total steals, averaging 10.9 per contest.
 
UT Martin's leading scorer is Kendall Spray, who averages 18.8 points per contest. She ranks second in the nation in three-point field goals made with 42 and first with 4.67 three-pointers per contest. Emanye Robertson (11.7) and Chelsey Perry (11.4) also average double figures.
 
SERIES HISTORY: This is the first-ever meeting between Eastern Washington and UT Martin. The Eagles are 1-1 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference opponents. The last OVC contest came against Southeast Missouri on Nov. 26, 2000 where Eastern won 67-64.
 
SOARING TO THE TOP: After scoring 18 points against Cal Poly, Delaney Hodgins now has 1,602 career points to rank third all-time on EWU's all-time career scoring list. The Preseason Big Sky MVP is just 132 points away from moving into sole possession of second place and is 264 away from breaking her older sister Haley Hodgins' all-time record of 1,865 points.
 
UP NEXT: The BTI wraps up nonconference play for the Eagles. After a one-week holiday hiatus, they return to Reese Court to open the conference slate. They begin with preseason favorite Northern Colorado on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. inside Reese Court and close out 2017 against North Dakota, who was picked second in the preseason poll, on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m.