The women’s basketball team split on the road with a loss to the University of North Dakota, 72-69, and a win over University of Northern Colorado, 66-57.

The Eagles improved to 17-8 and 11-2 in conference play. This drops them to second place in the Big Sky Conference standings behind Montana State with a conference record of 12-1.

Despite redshirt senior guard Hayley Hodgins leading the team with 27 points and going 10-of-23, the Eagles fell short of a victory over North Dakota. EWU shot 39.7 percent from the field while North Dakota shot 44.4 percent.

The first half of play was a slow start for both teams, but when the second half came around the shots began to fall for both sides.

EWU had a 7-point lead with only five minutes left, but the end score was still not in their favor. Hayley Hodgins and sophomore forward Delaney Hodgins combined for 14 points in the last four minutes, the Eagles down, 51-49, with just over a minute left. Freshman center Amira Chandler also added 4 points toward the score. UND went on a 10-3 run in the fourth quarter which eventually led to its victory.

Junior guard Tisha Phillips scored 12 points and led the team with six rebounds and six steals. EWU had a total of 32 rebounds, with 14 offensive which led to 9 second-chance points. While EWU had 16 turnovers, UND had 22, allowing EWU to score 26 points off of them.

“As a team, I thought we played hard, and we did a lot of things well. Going 2-for-19 from 3-point range is uncharacteristic of us. We fought hard and did a lot of things that put us in a position to win, but we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to close it out,” head coach Wendy Schuller said after the game.

EWU came out ready in their next game against Northern Colorado scoring 24 points in the first quarter. Sophomore guard Bethany Montgomery scored 8 points in just 90 seconds of play.

While Northern Colorado came from behind to go into the half ahead, 40-39, the Eagles came out of the half ready to win the game with defense. EWU forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter while holding UNC to only 5 points. Chandler gave EWU a lead going into the final quarter by hitting a baseline jumper.

Delaney Hodgins led the team with 16 points while Montgomery scored 13 points with only 10 minutes of playing time.

Hayley Hodgins scored 10 points, increasing her double-digit scoring streak to 41 games. Hayley Hodgins is also only 33 points behind Brenda Souther’s (1983-87) leading scorer record. She is expected to break the record against Portland State at home on Feb. 20.

The Eagles return home for their next game against Sacramento State on Feb. 18.