Hodgins sets Eastern women's basketball scoring record

FROM STAFF AND NEWS SOURCES

With only two weeks left in the regular season, the Eastern Washington University women's basketball team welcomes Big Sky Conference opponent Idaho to Reese Court, for a match-up wrought with Big Sky Tournament implications.

Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. PST, on Saturday, Feb. 27. The game marks the final regular season home contest for redshirt senior Hayley Hodgins, who became the program's all-time leading scorer last Saturday, Feb. 20, against Portland State.

Both Eastern (18-9, 12-3 BSC) and Idaho (20-7, 12-3) sit a half-game back of league-leading Montana State in the conference standings. The winner of Saturday's contest will have the inside track to a top-two seed at the upcoming Big Sky Tournament, while a loss may prove too much to overcome in the chase for a regular season league title.

The Eagles won this season's first meeting between the two teams, 74-66, in Moscow, Idaho, back on Jan. 9. EWU held the Vandals to 37.9 percent shooting from the floor and out-rebounded the hosts 43-36, including a season-high 16 boards from junior Ashli Payne.

Last week, the Eagles suffered a heartbreaking loss, 94-91, at home against Sacramento State on Thursday, Feb. 18. They concluded the week with a 70-57 victory over Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Against Sacramento State, Eastern kept pace all game with the high-powered Hornet offense, battling through deficits as large as 13 points. With the game tied 91-91 and only two seconds left, the Hornets Maranne Johnson drilled a buzzer beating three from NBA range to put away EWU. Hodgins led the Eagles in scoring with 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting.

Eastern bounced back nicely against Portland State in the second half to win by double digits. In the third quarter, EWU went on a 16-2 run that lasted five minutes.

Overall the offense hit five three pointers in the third quarter alone. Payne recorded her second straight double-double, scoring 11 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. She also tallied five assist and four steals.

Hodgins recently became EWU's new all-time NCAA Division I leading scorer. She broke the record during the first quarter of her 24-point performance against Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 20. She passed the 1,733-point mark set by Brenda Souther (1983-87). Hodgins currently has 1,751 career points, good for ninth on the Big Sky all-time scoring list.

During her four-year career at Eastern, Hodgins has cemented herself in the school's record books. She is first with 3,825 minutes played, 227 three-pointers made, 1,489 field goals attempted and is set to have played in the most games, 124, by the end of the regular season.

She also ranks third in 3-point percentage (.385), free throw percentage (.814), and steals (187). In the Big Sky all-time career lists, she's sixth in 3-pointers made, seventh in field goals attempted and 10th in field goals made.

Since its loss to Eastern back in January, Idaho has won 10 of its last 12 games and has lost just once on the road in Big Sky play this season, a 70-68 defeat at Northern Colorado on Feb. 11. The Vandals enter Saturday's game on the heels of a 107-60 home victory over Sacramento State that saw them shoot 55.7 percent from the field while making 13 three-pointers.

Idaho has performed well offensively, averaging 75 points per game with a plus-14 scoring margin on 40.4 percent shooting from the field. UI is one of the best three point shooting teams in the Big Sky, averaging 10.5 makes per game on 36.1 percent shooting.

Senior Christina Salvatore is second on the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game on 32.7 percent shooting from the field. She leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game, 3.6 assists per game and in steals.