Eastern women knocked out of BSC tournament

Accept WNIT bid versus WSU

On the heels of one of the best seasons in program history, the Eastern Washington University women’s basketball team accepted a bid to the WNIT and played Pac-12 member Washington State March 18 in Pullman.

EWU (20-11) appeared in the WNIT for the second time in three years and the third time overall under 14-year head coach Wendy Schuller. The Eagles’ first appearance came following the 2009-10 season when they won the Big Sky Conference regular season title. Eastern returned to the tournament three years later following its 2012-13 campaign.

“In recent years, going to a postseason tournament has kind of become an expectation for us,” Schuller said. “We were disappointed last year when we didn’t go, and we put ourselves in a better position this year.

Eastern won its opening-round game of the Big Sky tournament last Wednesday in Missoula, beating Northern Arizona 73-57 but saw its rally come up short Friday against eventual champion, Montana, 55-51.

“We’ve had some quality wins both in the Big Sky and out of conference, and I’m glad that we’re going to have a chance to keep playing,” Schuller said.

Eastern is 4-12 all-time against Washington State. The two teams last met Nov. 18, 2007, with Washington State winning, 70-59, at Reese Court.

Washington State (17-14) owns wins over four NCAA RIP top-50 teams in Dayton, Maryland, Gonzaga and Washington, and finished seventh in the Pac-12 with a 7-11 mark.

Junior Hayley Hodgins was named to the All-Big Sky Tournament Team after averaging 16 points in Eastern’s two games.

 

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