Eastern Washington women fall short in Big Sky semifinals to Montana State, 61-59

RENO, Nev. – This one will hurt for awhile.

After a high-stakes game that could have gone either way, Eastern Washington coach Wendy Schuller and her two standout seniors faced the cameras with teary eyes.

“We thought we laid it all out there,” Schuller said Friday after a 61-59 loss to Montana State in a Big Sky Conference semifinal game that not only ended the Eagles’ season, but also the college careers of Ashli Payne and Tisha Phillips.

“I feel like these two young ladies and their teammates put a lot on the line all season, but especially this week,” Schuller said.

While Montana State moved on to the Big Sky title game, the Eagles were left to ponder the might-have-beens in a game that included 10 ties and 13 lead changes.

Back in the semifinals for the third straight year, the Eagles felt like this might be their best chance to return to the NCAAs for the first time since 1987.

Eastern (18-13) led by seven late in the third quarter and 56-55 after a steal-and-score by Uriah Howard with 2:17 left, but the Bobcats made most of the big plays at the end.

The exception was Delaney Hodgins’ clutch 3-pointer from the side. It tied the game at 59 with 31 seconds to play and capped an 18-point night.

“Delaney’s been hitting big shots her whole career,” Schuller said of the junior forward from Pasco.

However, the top-seeded Bobcats (24-6) milked the clock and got the go-ahead bucket when forward Annika Lai glided in for a layin while the Eagles focused on stopping Peyton Ferris and Riley Nordgaard.

Eastern had one more chance, and it was a good one. After a timeout with three seconds left, Phillips got the ball on the sideline, then drove into a crowd of Bobcats just inside the 3-point line.

“I was trying to come off the screen looking for a shot,” Phillips said. “They whole way I was getting held. I was hoping for a call, and hoping the shot would go in.”

It didn’t, and the Bobcats celebrated their third win over the Eagles this season.

Eastern set the tone early. Ferris, the conference MVP, spent most of the first half on the bench with two fouls.

The Eagles led 29-25 at halftime despite missing 12 of their first 13 shots. Without Ferris, the Bobcats also struggled inside: at one point, they were 3-for-5 outside the arc but 0-for-8 inside.

Eastern took its biggest lead, 45-38 on Hodgins’ 3-pointer with 1:24 left in the third quarter. However, the Bobcats erased that deficit – and then some – with a 10-0 run.

The Eagles got 10 points from Payne and 11 from Phillips, who also had seven assists.

Ferris imposed herself on the Eagles in the second half, scoring all of her 11 points after intermission. She also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Overall, MSU was 11-for-14 at the line, while EWU was 2 for 4. Ferris had four in the final three minutes, while Hodgins never made it to the foul line.

“She’s a player that teams are really physical with,” Schuller said. “Certain players are protected and certain players aren’t, and Delaney is one of those who isn’t protected.”