GAME #18 NOTES

CHENEY, Wash. – A three-game home stand continues for the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team this week inside Reese Court. The Eagles look to continue a two-game winning streak as they host Northern Arizona (Jan. 18) and Southern Utah (Jan. 20) as Big Sky Conference play continues. Both games can be watched for free on Pluto TV Ch. 234 or WatchBigSky.com.
 
Having won three out of its last five games, Eastern Washington will try and move its record to .500 for the first time since the first week of the season, and Reese Court is the right place to do it. The Eagles have found success at home this season, as they boast a 5-3 record, including a 2-1 mark in BSC play. Since the 2014-15 season, the Eagles are 25-6 overall in conference play inside Reese Court. Saturday's game against Southern Utah will mark 17th-year head coach Wendy Schuller's 500th career game.
 
EWU is fresh off of a 71-64 victory over Idaho last Friday (Jan. 12) that saw four players score in double figures, led by Delaney Hodgins who had 19 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. As a team, the Eagles only committed four turnovers and shot 39.4 percent from the field with 46 rebounds. Eastern's bench also contributed to the win with 21 points to help move EWU to 3-2 in conference play and 8-9 overall.
 
The Eagles are paced by senior Delaney Hodgins who is averaging 19.8 points per game, which is 39th in the nation and third in the Big Sky. She also adds 8.0 rebounds per contest and ranks 89th in the nation with 1.65 blocks per game. Junior Violet Kapri Morrow is the other Eagle in double figures with 11.9 points per game. She has scored in double figures in four out of the last five games. Symone Starks leads the way with 3.41 steals per game which is 11th in the nation. She nearly averages double figures with 8.8 per game and has scored in double digits in six out of the last seven games.
 
Eastern Washington averages 62.7 points per game and 35.4 rebounds. They rank in the top-100 in the NCAA in blocked shots (50th, 79), blocks per game (48th, 4.6), steals (35th, 186) and steals per game (30th, 10.9)
 
A LOOK AT THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona is 4-12 on the year with a 1-4 conference record. The Lumberjacks have yet to win a contest on the road this season and have lost two straight games heading into Thursday. NAU has three players that average in double figures in Kenna McDavis (16.0), Olivia Lucero (15.4) and Kaleigh Paplow (11.4).
 
As a team, the Lumberjacks average 69.9 points per game and are shooting 40.5 percent from field goal range. They also average 30 defensive rebounds per contest which is 14th in the nation. Their 42.13 rebounds per game ranks them 44th across Division I.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington leads the all-time series 36-26, including a 23-8 overall record at Reese Court. The Eagles have picked up six out of the last 10 meetings. Last season, EWU lost 56-47 on the road after shooting a season-low 26.8 percent from the field. Eastern then bounced back and took a 79-64 victory at home over NAU in its final game of the season.
 
A LOOK AT THE THUNDERBIRDS: The Thunderbirds are 3-13 overall with a 2-3 mark in conference play. They are coming off of a 60-57 win over Northern Arizona and are 1-8 on the road this season. Southern Utah will play at Idaho on Thursday before coming to Cheney. Breanu Reid is the lone Thunderbird in double figures, as she averages 12.4 per game. SUU averages 62.4 points per game to their opponents 72.9. The Thunderbirds rank 34th in the nation with 187 steals, averaging 11.7 per game to rank 18th.
 
SERIES HISTORY: The last two meetings between the two teams have been decided by a combined two points. EWU hung on for a 67-66 road victory in the first matchup of the season, and then lost 63-64 on the return trip at Reese Court. The Eagles have a slight 9-7 edge over SUU in the series history and lead 5-4 at Reese. The two teams split the meetings last year, but Eastern Washington has claimed seven out of the last 10.
 
COACH SCHULLER REACHES MILESTONE: Saturday's contest will mark head coach Wendy Schuller's 500th game at the helm of Eastern Washington women's basketball. Schuller has led the Eagles to a Big Sky Conference tournament in 13 of her 16 seasons as head coach. In her 17th year at the helm, players have earned a total of 34 All-Big Sky awards while Julie Piper and Brianne Ryan received Big Sky Player of the Year honors in 2010 and 2012, respectively. She also coached Julie Page to the program's first-ever Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honor in 2004 while 2013 saw Eagle Hayley Hodgins become the first player to earn Big Sky Freshman of the Year accolades in twenty years. She also guided EWU to its first-ever bid to the WNIT following the 2009-10 season, after clinching the BSC Regular Season title, before taking the Eagles back to the prestigious invitational at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season and again in 2014-15. 
 
SOARING TO THE TOP: After scoring 19 points against Idaho, Delaney Hodgins now has 1,764 points which is second on Eastern Washington's all-time career scoring list. She now just needs 102 more points to break her older sister Hayley Hodgins' record of 1,865.
 
UP NEXT: The Eagles hit the road for a pair of contests at North Dakota (Jan. 25) and Northern Colorado (Jan. 27). EWU topped UND for its first Big Sky win earlier this season and were edged by the Bears 70-65 to open conference play on Dec. 28.