Eastern Washington women go cold in loss to Northern Arizona

Raina Perez scored 15 points and Northern Arizona topped Eastern Washington 56-47 in Big Sky Conference play in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Thursday.

The Eagles (9-8, 4-2) shot just 26.8 percent, hitting 4 of 19 from beyond the arc, as a three-game winning streak came to an end. Both the points scored and shooting percentage were season lows for the Eagles.

Delaney Hodgins led Eastern with 20 points, and Ashli Payne added 11.They were the only two Eastern players with multiple field goal makes. It was Hodgins’ seventh game this season hitting the 20-point plateau.

“Tonight was a tough loss in a tough place to play,” said head coach Wendy Schuller. “I was really disappointed in our offensive output. I have to make sure I have us ready to play, and tonight we didn’t appear to be. We need to get healthy and back on track in a hurry.”

Both teams were sluggish through the first three quarters, as the Eagles held a slim 29-28 lead entering the fourth.

Northern Arizona (6-11, 2-4) matched its point total for the game in the fourth quarter alone, as it posted 28 points in the final 10 minutes of play to pull away from the Eagles and collect a nine-point victory.

Brittani Lusain and Catelyn Preston added 10 points apiece for NAU.

The Lumberjacks outrebounded Eastern Washington, 44-36. The plus-eight differential for NAU led to a 11-5 edge in second chance points.

The Eagles conclude their brief two-game road trip at Southern Utah on Saturday at 3 p.m.