Eastern Washington women downed by Montana State long-distance shooting

Hannah Caudill hit seven of her team’s 12 3-pointers en route to a game-high 23 points, Riley Nordgaard added 16 points, and Montana State outlasted Eastern Washington 72-61 in Big Sky action on Saturday in Cheney.

Delaney Hodgins collected her second-straight double-double – the fourth of the season and 10th of her career – with 18 points and a season-best 13 rebounds, one off her career high, but it wasn’t enough to help the Eagles (11-9, 6-3) overcome a Bobcats squad that shot lights out from behind the arc.

Montana State (15-5, 8-2) nailed 12 of 26 3-point attempts while Eastern managed just six 3-pointers on 21 attempts, outscored 36-18 from long distance.

Violet Kapri Morrow pulled the Eagles within a point of Montana State after scoring the opening basket of the third quarter. But Eastern couldn’t get over the hump as the Bobcats went on a 22-4 run from that point to take a game-high 19-point lead with 9:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Montana State played extremely well and shot the 3-ball particularly well today,” said head coach Wendy Schuller.

“Peyton Ferris is having an amazing year, and when you key in on her, it opens up a lot of perimeter options for them. Give them credit, they knocked shots down, but it feels like we’re in a little bit of an offensive funk right now. We’ve got to work our way out of it, because this is not the time of the year you afford to have that.”

Tisha Phillips recorded her third-straight double-digit scoring outing with a team-high 18 points, while the point guard dished out four assists. Ashli Payne added 10 points.

The Eagles head south to take on Sacramento State and Portland State next week. Eastern opens the trip on Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. meeting before taking on the Vikings on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.