WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team opened the Traveler's Invitational on Sunday morning (Dec. 17) with a loss to Purdue. The Boilermakers, who are serving as hosts to the four-team invitational, used a 20-0 run in the fourth quarter to top the Eagles 65-40.
 
After a 58 percent performance on Monday against Cal Poly, EWU finished the day only shooting 28 percent from the field, while the Boilermakers shot 47 percent.
 
"Honestly, this is a frustrating loss. We did some really good things defensively and rebounding to put us in a position to win, but our Achilles (turning the ball over) haunted us once again. Not only did they take away possession, but they led to easy baskets and momentum for Purdue."" said head coach Wendy Schuller. "We are best when we have multiple scorers and we struggled to get that going today. Now it's important we get rest and prepared because it doesn't get any easier against a really tough Saint Mary's team tomorrow."
 
A Brittany Klaman three-pointer put Eastern on the board first, but Purdue would use runs of 7-0 and 6-0 to lead 17-10 after one quarter of play.
 
The Eagles only shot 26 percent in the first half on 7-for-27 shooting. Eastern's defense began to hit its stride, forcing five Purdue turnovers in six minutes and kept the Boilermakers off the board for the final three minutes of the half. A quick 5-0 run for the Eagles and a buzzer-beater jumper from Violet Kapri Morrow helped the Eagles cut their deficit to six points, 26-20, as they headed into the locker room.
 
EWU opened up the third quarter with a three-pointer from Morrow. Delaney Hodgins would score six quick points to put the Eagles within two, 34-32, at the third quarter media timeout. Purdue would take the command again, using a 9-0 run over three minutes and forcing seven EWU turnovers to pull back ahead. The Eagles were not able to make a field goal for the final five and a half minutes of the third, trailing 43-33.
 
Purdue opened the fourth quarter on a 20-0 run to open its largest lead of the night. EWU would not back down, as they went on a 7-0 spurt late in the fourth quarter. The late rally was not enough as they fell by a final score of 65-40.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: With the loss, Eastern Washington moves to 4-6 overall while Purdue improves to 7-5. Eastern is now 0-4 all-time against teams from the Big Ten as the series drops to 0-2. The loss also snaps a two-game winning streak for the Eagles.
 
TURNING POINT: Eastern only trailed by 10 points at the end of three quarters, but the Boilermakers opened the fourth quarter on a 20-0 run to take a commanding lead for good.
 
TOP PERFORMERS: For the ninth time this season, Delaney Hodgins led the team with 16 points. She also flirted with a double-double, leading the Eagles with eight rebounds. Violet Kapri Morrow added six rebounds. Symone Starks had a career-high seven steals.
 
KEY STATISTICS: The Eagles outrebounded Purdue 33-30 and out blocked them 5-3 while forcing 17 turnovers. However, the Eagles had 25 turnovers and only shot 28 percent from the field compared to the Boilermaker's 47 percent.
 
NOTEABLES: Freshman Brittany Klaman tied her career-high nine points with a career-high three three-pointers
 
Delaney Hodgins put together her sixth straight double digit scoring game – eighth this season and 86th time in her career.
 
Symone Starks led the team with a career-high seven steals, her third time this season with over five steals.
 
SOARING TO THE TOP: After scoring 16 points this morning, Delaney Hodgins now has 1,618 career points to rank third all-time on EWU's all-time career scoring list. The Preseason Big Sky MVP is just 116 points away from moving into sole possession of second place and is 248 away from breaking her older sister Haley Hodgins' all-time record of 1,865 points.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington continues play at the Traveler's Invitational tomorrow (Dec. 18) afternoon. They have a quick turnaround as they face Saint Mary's at 1 p.m. Pacific time. The invitational concludes on Wednesday morning (Dec. 20) against UT Martin at 8 a.m. PT.