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SAN MARCOS, Texas -- The Eastern Washington University women's basketball team opens the 2017 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) this Thursday (March 16) at Texas State. Tip-off against the Bobcats is set for 3 p.m. PT.
The Eagles earned their first-ever bid to the WBI on Monday, after going 18-13 in the regular season. This year's appearance in the WBI marks the third time in the last five seasons that EWU has qualified for a national postseason tournament, as they also played in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) in 2013 and 2015.
Eastern Washington has been a battle-tested team this season, as they played one of the toughest schedules in the Big Sky Conference this season. The Eagles strength of schedule was the highest-ranked by RealTimeRPI.com at 145, 16 spots higher than the second-toughest schedule in the Big Sky. That schedule helped EWU end the regular season with an RPI of 134, which was the fourth-highest in the conference.
Texas State enters the WBI at 16-14 on the year with an RPI of 168. The Bobcats went 11-7 in the Sun Belt Conference and finished fourth in the regular season standings. TSU went 10-4 at home this season, and picked up a pair of RPI Top 100 wins against Little Rock (48) and UT Arlington (91). They come into the WBI on a three-game losing streak, but have won six-straight home games.
The Eagles played in 14 games against teams in the RPI Top 150 this season, picking up three wins along the way. Of those 14 contests, nine games were against teams inside the RPI Top 100. Eastern's best win of the season came on Feb. 11 at home against Northern Colorado, who finished the year with an RPI of 129.
About The WBI
The Women's Basketball Invitational provides a choice for postseason worthy Division I Women's teams who wish to continue their season but who do not qualify for the NCAA tournament. The 16 team event will take place over two weeks with all games being played on campus sites. Past champions have featured Louisiana Lafayette, Illinois-Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, UAB and Appalachian State.
The winner of Thursday's game will be the winner of Idaho/Utah State on either March 18, 19 or 20. Locations and times for the next round of the WBI will be announced after the conclusion of the first round games.
How to Watch
Thursday's game will be streamed lived on txstatebobcats.com for a fee. Live stats and radio feed can also be found at txstatebobcats.com for free.
All-Time Series
Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between Eastern Washington and Texas State. The Eagles are 4-0 lifetime against teams from the Sun Belt Conference, as they've picked up wins over Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana and Troy.
On the flip side, Eastern is just 1-11 against teams from Texas. The lone win came against UTEP back during the 2002-03 season.
Postseason Facts
This year marks the fifth time in program history the Eagles have qualified for a national postseason tournament, and it is the first time they'll play in the WBI. The Eagles are 1-4 all-time as a NCAA Division I team in national postseason games. Eastern previous qualified for one NCAA Tournament (1987) and three WNIT's (2010, 2013, 2015).
Looking for Postseason Win Number 2
The Eagles enter Thursday looking to collect just the school's second-ever national postseason win. Eastern's first-ever victory came in the 2013 WNIT, when the they knocked off regional-rival Washington State, 67-65, in Pullman.
Playing The Best
Eastern ended up playing nine teams who played qualified for a national postseason tournament this season. The Eagles took on six teams who made the NCAA Tournament – Boise State, Drake, Elon, Gonzaga, Montana State and Washington. – two teams who will be playing in the WNIT – North Dakota and Tulane – and one WBI team – Idaho.  Eastern went 2-11 in games against 2016-17 postseason teams.
Climbing the Ladder
Junior Delaney Hodgins has an opportunity to move up on the Eastern Washington single-season scoring list on Thursday. She enters the WBI with the fourth-most points scored in a single season in program history at 552. Hodgins needs 28 points in the WBI to move into third place, a spot currently occupied by Brianne Ryan's 578-point season in 2011-12.
Delaney would need an extended run in the WBI for a chance to surpass her sister, Hayley, for first on her list. The elder Hodgins scored a school-record 680 points last season. Delaney would need 129 points in the WBI to break Hayley's record.
Knowing Your Opponent: Texas State
The Bobcats ended the regular season at 16-14 and was knocked out of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in the Quarterfinal round. Texas State comes into the WBI on a bit of a slide, as they've dropped each of its last three games, and have lost four of their last six. However, TSU does bring a six-game winning streak at home into Thursday's game against the Eagles. This will be third time in four seasons that Texas State has been in the WBI. The Bobcats will be in search of their first-ever national postseason win, as they went winless in the 2014 and 2015 WBI's.
Taeler Deer is one of two double-digit scorers for the Bobcats, as the All-Sun Belt Conference third team selection averaged a career-best 10.8 points this season and ranked second in the Sun Belt in both 3-point field goal percentage (45.7%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.50). Toshua Leavitt is right behind her at 10.4 points per game. As a team, Texas State averages 58.5 points per game on a 40.4 shooting percentage.
The Bobcats have won a lot of games this season because of its defense, as they've allowed just 58.4 points per game this season. TSU limits teams to just a 37.7 percent success rate from the floor and they've been even tougher to score on from behind the arc, as they yield a 29.2 shooting percentage from deep. Rebounding has been an issue for the Bobcats this season, as they only average 33.8 boards per game, and are being outrebounded by 4.7 boards per game. Only one player on the Bobcats average over 3.5 rebounds per game (Ericka May; 6.0 rpg).
For more information on the Eastern Washington women's basketball team, follow @EWUWBB on Twitter and Instagram and be sure to like EWU Women's Basketball on Facebook.
