Idaho rallies past Eagle women in semis

When Delaney Hodgins hit a buzzer-beating 3-point basket to end the first half, it seemed to be a crushing blow for the University of Idaho women’s basketball team.

Little did the Eastern women know it would be their last hurrah.

The Eagles gave up 51 second-half points and shot just 21.9 percent over the final 20 minutes in an 86-71 loss to Idaho in a Big Sky Conference Championship semifinal contest at the Reno Events Center March 11.

The Eagles fell to 20-12 on the year with the loss while Idaho went on to defeat Idaho State in the Big Sky Tournament’s championship game and earn the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament for the conference. The Vandals, a No. 16 seed, face Baylor, a No. 1 seed in Dallas.

“It is tough to beat a team three times in a row, especially a really good team,” EWU head coach Wendy Schuller said. “It’s not like we’re trying to beat a team three times that won 12 games. We were facing a team that won a lot of basketball games.”

Eastern led by as many as nine points in the first half. Hodgins’ basket sent the Eagles into the locker room up six, 41-35. Eastern still owned a six-point advantage, 54-48, with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Vandals closed on a 7-2 run to cut the Eagles’ lead to one, 56-55, heading into the final quarter.

Idaho would score 11 of the first 13 points of the fourth quarter to open up an eight-point advantage, 66-58. Eastern would close the gap

Delaney Hodgins led all scorers with 22 points on just nine shots. She finished 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Hayley Hodgins finished with 19 points.

Eastern earned the match-up with Idaho following a tense 100-97 win over Sacramento State March 9 in which the Eagles rallied from six points down in the fourth quarter, using a lay-up from Gretchen Harrigan to open up a 91-85 advantage at the 4:15 mark. Delaney Hodgins answered with a jumper for Eastern, sparking a 10-4 run to rally her team.

Delaney Hodgins recorded a crucial steal with 29 seconds left and the Hornets fouled freshman Violet Kapri Morrow, but she calmly made both free throws to give EWU a 97-95 lead with 21 seconds remaining. Junior Ashli Payne came up big for the Eagles on defense on a steal with six seconds to play. Hayley Hodgins made two free throws as the Eagles led 99-95, with five seconds left. After a Sac State basket Payne sealed the win for Eastern by going 1-of-2 from the line and the Hornets were unable to get a shot off as time expired.