EWU women’s basketball survived their season opener on the road against Utah Valley Wolverines, 68-62, despite a slow start.

The Eagles had four starters in double figures, led by senior forward Melissa Williams, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while shooting 53 percent from the field.

“I thought [Williams] was fabulous. She set the tone defensively for us in the paint and did a great job on their post players,” said head coach Wendy Schuller. “She was a presence, and her offensive performance is something that we need from her consistently this year. Jade [Redmon] also had a great game. She was phenomenal on the glass. Overall, I thought our team rebounding effort was better than it’s been in a while.”

Sophomore guard Jade Redmon shot five for seven from the field and finished with 14 points and 12 boards.

According to goeags.com, this was EWU’s first road season opener victory since the 2009-2010 season, improving Schuller’s record to 7-7.

After going into halftime down 35-34, the Eagles would rally and outscore Utah Valley 34-27 in the second half. EWU shot 32 percent in the first half, but shot 51.9 percent in the second to pull out the win.

Utah Valley’s freshman guard Rhaiah Spooner-Knight was the only Wolverine to finish in double figure scoring, dropping 20 points.

“We made some defensive adjustments at halftime, specifically focusing on doing a better job in guarding their zone offense. I thought we communicated better defensively in the second half, and our zone frustrated them over the final 20 minutes,” said Schuller.

Despite losing the turnover battle 14-11, EWU’s defense held Utah Valley to 38 percent shooting and outrebounded the Wolverines 44-41.

Redshirt sophomore guard Lexie Nelson said she was content with the performances of her teammates, including freshman guard Delaney Hodges who finished with nine points, eight rebounds and three assists in her first career game as an Eagle.

“It was a good start to our season, but we were nowhere near perfect and know we can play better. We saw some things to work on, but all in all we are excited the season is finally here,” said Nelson.
EWU will host Wichita State for the first home game of the season on Nov. 18 at Reese Court.

“For this next game we are really looking forward to the opportunity. They are a good team and have had some good seasons the last few years, but we are going to work hard in practice and come prepared on game day,” said Nelson. “I feel coaches are doing a good job preparing us and our team knows we must stay focused and come ready to play Tuesday.”