A lot of up and very little down with Eagle women basketball

Coming in at No. 8 on the list of 2015 Top-10 sports stories is the Eastern Washington University women’s basketball team.

The Eagles experienced a bit of a roller coaster ride in 2015. Eastern posted non-league wins over Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament champion Wichita State and Southeast Conference member Florida, and put together winning streaks of six and seven games at one point, the first time the program has produced a pair of six-game-plus winning streaks in a season.

Eastern also won 12 Big Sky Conference games for the second consecutive season, finishing tied for third. The Eagles knocked off Northern Arizona 73-57 to advance to the tournament semifinals, where they lost a heartbreaker, 55-51, to Montana.

The EWU-squad’s 20-11 overall record, the third 20-plus game winning season in the program’s 33-year history, along its quality non-conference wins and success earned it a bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. It was the team’s second WNIT berth in the last three years, and third in head coach Wendy Schuller’s 14 years with the program.

The Eagles didn’t have to travel far to face their first round opponent, making the short hour-plus bus ride south to face the Pac-12’s Washington State University. Good offense and defense kept the Eagles close throughout the contest until the final minutes.

Down five points with under four minutes to play against the Cougars, senior Lexie Nelson drained a 3-pointer, and after Eastern’s defense forced a WSU turnover, hit a lay up to tie the game at 58. The teams then exchanged baskets until, tied at 65 with 29 seconds to play, the Eagles ran a play in their final possession that resulted in sophomore Jade Redmon’s lay up to give Eastern the 67-65 win, the first in the post season for the program.

Eastern advanced to face Big Sky rival Sacramento State in the second round, ending their season with a 21-12 record on a 84-49 loss to the always tough Hornets.

It was only the second time an Eastern women’s team reached 21 wins, tying the 1983-84 team’s mark. The Eagles set a new program record for Division I scoring with 2,282 points, finished the year ranked second in field goal percentage in the Big Sky (43.4) and first in both 3-point shooting average (34.2 percent) and free throw shooting (76 percent), 12th best in the nation.

After reaching this pinnacle, and with a promising future ahead, the Eagles experienced a setback when five players, including Big Sky Honorable Mention Redmon, left the team in May over disputes about playing time. Schuller and company wasted little time over the issue, signing four new players in June, including community college transfer Ashli Payne along with three high school players.

Payne has proven to be a key contributor, along with Hodgins sisters Hayley and Delaney, as the Eagles have posted a 6-6 record heading into Big Sky Conference play.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.