WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –  The Eastern Washington women's basketball team dropped the second contest of the Traveler's Invitational to Saint Mary's on Monday (Dec. 18).
 
The Gaels, who are ranked at No. 16 in the latest Mid Major Poll and come in at 54 in the NCAA RPI, shot 45 percent compared to the Eagles' 33 percent, taking the contest 76-56.

"Saint Mary's is a really good basketball team. I thought we gave a great effort today and we did things better offensively, but we still didn't show the consistency we need to win against a quality team like they are," said head coach Wendy Schuller. "It will be good to have a day to rest and regroup and work to get a win on Wednesday against UT Martin."
 
Eastern Washington opened on a 10-0 run behind four quick points from Uriah Howard that forced an early Saint Mary's timeout. The Gaels quickly responded with a 17-3 run to lead by four at the end of the first.
 
It took over half the quarter for either team to net a field goal during the second frame. The Gaels would heat up and open a 7-0 run that was ended by back-to-back three-pointers from Amy Hartleroad, giving SMC an eight-point lead heading into the half.
 
Saint Mary's would go on a 6-0 run right before the third quarter media timeout. Following the break, the Eagles used a 6-0 run of their own but could never quite chip away at Saint Mary's advantage. Mariah Cunningham would score at the buzzer to help put Eastern within nine heading into the final quarter.
 
Despite EWU shooting 40 percent in the fourth quarter, the Gaels would use a 16-2 spurt in the fourth for their largest lead of the day en route to the 76-56 victory.
 
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: Eastern Washington drops their second straight, falling to 4-7 on the season. Saint Mary's moves to 7-3 overall. The all-time series is now tied 2-2.
 
TURNING POINT: EWU was able to hang on to Saint Mary's as they never let the lead grow larger than 10 points in the third quarter. Only trailing by nine heading into the final 10 minutes, the Gaels used a 16-2 run to put EWU away for good.
 
TOP PERFORMERS: Delaney Hodgins led the team with 21 points, followed by Symone Starks who had 12. Amy Hartleroad added a career-high eight. Hodgins also led the team with six rebounds. Starks had five assists and two steals, while Uriah Howard led the team with three blocks.
 
KEY STATISTICS: Saint Mary's outrebounded the Eagles 42-31 and shot 45 percent compared to EWU's 33. Both teams made five three-point field goals, and the Eagles shot 72% from the line. Eastern's bench added 14 points while Saint Mary's added 12.
 
NOTEABLES: Delaney Hodgins put together her seventh straight double digit scoring game – ninth this season and 87th time in her career. She scored over 20 points for the 22^nd time in her career and sixth time this season.
 
For the seventh time in her career and third time this season, Symone Starks scored in double figures.
SOARING TO THE TOP: After scoring 21 points this afternoon, Delaney Hodgins now has 1,639 career points to rank third all-time on EWU's all-time career scoring list. The Preseason Big Sky MVP is just 95 points away from moving into sole possession of second place and is 227 away from breaking her older sister Haley Hodgins' all-time record of 1,865 points.
 
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington wraps up nonconference play on Wednesday, Dec. 20 on the final day of the Traveler's Invitational. The Eagles take on UT Martin at 1 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Big Sky Conference play begins at Reese Court on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. against Northern Colorado.