The EWU women’s basketball team competed in four non-conference games at home and in Texas, from Nov. 18-30.

On Nov. 18, the Eagles defeated Wichita State University, 86-58, at home. Eastern obtained the upper hand offensively from the opening minutes of the first half.

With the help of redshirt junior guard Hayley Hodgins, the Eagles managed to open up a 25-7 lead with 6:45 remaining in the first half.

Hodgins said the team was prepared for Wichita State coming into the game.

“I really just think that we were really focused [during the week],” said Hodgins. “The energy was just different coming off our not-as-well of a performance in Utah. I think we knew we could do better.”

Eastern ended up leading the Shockers by 25 points at halftime, 43-18. Hodgins had 17 points in the first half. Redshirt senior guard Lexie Nelson had nine points.

Wichita State cut the Eagles lead to 18 at one point in the second half; however, the Eagles again increased their lead to get the victory.

“They’re a good, quality team. They’re athletic, they have some good players,” said Nelson. “We knew coming into [the game] we were going to have to really play well and stay focused.”

Sophomore guard Jade Redmon made school history as she recorded EWU’s first ever triple-double: 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Hodgins finished the game with a career high of 30 points, Nelson had 29 points. Senior forward Melissa Williams had seven points and a career high of 16 rebounds.

On Nov. 22 the Eagles traveled to Dallas, Texas, where they fell to Southern Methodist University, 69-53.

SMU got an early advantage in the first half to lead by 13 points. The Mustangs went on a 14-5 run later in the first half. At halftime, SMU led by 22 points, 42-20.

In the second half, the Eagles ramped up their defensive intensity, SMU went without a field goal for five minutes. With 6:14 left in the second half, EWU cut the Mustang’s 26 point lead to 14 points, however Eastern would not be able to get the victory.

Hodgins finished with 10 points, five rebounds and a career high of five steals. Williams and freshman guard Delaney Hodgins each had nine points. Redmon finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Eagles suffered their second road loss of the season by losing to Abilene Christian University, 79-72.

“We haven’t spent a lot of time on the road yet,” head coach Wendy Schuller said. “We’re going to get better every single time we do. We played two really good teams on that road trip.”

In the first half, the Eagles started off slow, the Wildcats led throughout. With 5:01 remaining in the first half, Eastern managed to tie the score, 33-33. The Eagles went on a 10-4 run, Eastern led at halftime 45-41.

Eastern failed to score for the remainder of the second half. ACU took advantage by scoring 11 straight points to get the victory.

Nelson finished with 20 points and Hodgins scored 19. Freshman guard Delaney Hodgins had a season high of 15 points. Williams finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.

On Nov. 30, Eastern bounced back from their losses on the road to defeat Central Washington University, 83-70.

Nelson surpassed 1,000 points for her career as the Eagles earned their third win of the season.

“[Central Washington] shot the ball really well and we knew coming in that they were going to execute well offensively,” said Schuller. “I thought when we picked our pressure up a little in the second half that we were able to pull away the way we wanted to.”

Eastern got off to a fast start as they went on a 9-0 run in the opening minutes of the game. The Eagles continued to dominate until the 13:38 mark in the first half where the Wildcats started to heat up offensively.

At halftime, the Eagles led by only four points, 43-39. Both teams shooting around similar percentages, Eastern: 46.9 percent and Central Washington: 51.9 percent.

In the second half, Eastern increased their lead to 12 points, 63-51 at the 9:23 mark. The Wildcats managed to stay in the game until the 2:50 mark where The Eagles pulled away for the victory.

Nelson scored 22 points while surpassing 1,000 points for her college career. Hodgins had 25 points, Williams finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Update: Eastern fell to Gonzaga University on Dec. 3 at home, 61-60. Gonzaga guard Elle Tinkle hit a game winning jump shot to give the Eagles their third loss of the season.

Eastern will play St. Martin’s University at home on Dec. 12.