Women’s basketball: Eastern Washington settles for second seed in Big Sky tourney

Kailie Quinn and Deeshyra Thomas scored 19 points apiece Friday and Weber State beat Eastern Washington 80-74 in Big Sky Conference women’s basketball in Ogden, Utah.

With the table set for a share of the conference regular-season title, the Eagles (19-11, 13-5) saw their hopes dashed and will have to settle for the second seed in the tournament in Reno, Nevada.

The Eagles will be the No. 2 seed and receive a first-round bye into the quarterfinals, where they await either No. 7 Sacramento State or No. 10 Southern Utah on Wednesday.

Weber State (19-10, 11-7) secured the sixth seed.

Redshirt senior Hayley Hodgins led Eastern with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting and made a trio of 3-pointers. She added seven boards, three assists and two steals. Hodgins moved into fifth on the Big Sky’s career made 3-pointers list with 235.

EWU’s Ashli Payne and sophomore Delaney Hodgins finished with double-doubles. Payne recorded 15 points and 10 boards while Hodgins tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three blocks and two assists.

Idaho State 89, Idaho 68: Brooke Blair scored 24 points, Apiphany Woods added 21, and the hot-shooting Bengals had little trouble dispatching the Vandals in Pocatello.

Idaho State (15-14, 8-10) hit seven first-half 3-pointers and shot better than 55 percent on its way to a season high in points. The Bengals finished 11 of 21 from beyond the arc.

Despite the loss, Idaho (21-9, 13-5) will have a first-round bye in next week’s tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Vandals will face the winner of sixth-seeded Weber State and No. 11-seed Portland State on Wednesday.

Idaho State is the No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 Northern Colorado on Monday in the first round.

The Vandals put four players in double figures. Ali Forde led the way with a 17-point effort. Mikayla Ferenz posted 14 points before fouling out. Renae Mokrzycki totaled 13 points, while Christina Salvatore added 10.