Women's Basketball Returns Home for Final Conference Games

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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team returns home this week for its final two games of the regular season. The Bengals host Eastern Washington Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Idaho Friday at 7 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON
Eastern Washington currently carries a 19-9 overall record with a 13-3 mark in conference play, good for second. The Eagles were picked to finish ninth in the coaches poll and sixth in the media poll prior to the start of the season.

This season, the Eagles are averaging 71.1 points and 36.8 rebounds per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the floor. Eastern is led by preseason all-conference selection Hayley Hodgins with 20.9 points per game, good for second in the conference and 20th in the nation. Three other Eagles average double figures, with Delaney Hodgins at 15.4, Ashli Payne at 11.2 and Tisha Phillips at 10.9.

The last time ISU played Eastern it faced a double-digit deficit after starting just 1-of-10 from the field. The Bengals cut it to eight, 33-25, heading into the half. ISU outscored EWU 14-5 over a 10:30 stretch in the second half, and earned their first lead of the night following a three from Apiphany Woods for the 49-48 lead with 4:59 left. The Eagles regained the lead with two treys; ISU closed the gap to two points with 51 seconds left, but an Eastern jumper and a missed ISU shot sealed the win for the Eagles.

Eastern Washington is coached by Head Coach Wendy Schuller.

SERIES REVIEW: NEARLY EVEN
Eastern Washington leads the overall series 38-35, with the Bengals holding the edge 20-14 in Pocatello and the Eagles holding the edge in Cheney 23-12 with an even 2-2 neutral record. EWU won both meetings last season, while ISU earned the 'W' both meetings during the 2014 season.

A LOOK BACK: THIS DATE IN HISTORY
This is the 11th time in program history that the Bengals have played on March 2. This will be the second time in program history that ISU will play Eastern Washington on March 2. The last time ISU faced the Eagles on this date, EWU won 80-70 during the 1990-91 season.

SENIORS SHINE
Senior forward Anna Policicchio ranks third all-time in career blocks in ISU history. Policicchio passed Kelly Palmer (1984-89, 137 blocked shots) after recording four blocks at Montana on Feb. 25 and now sits alone in third with 141 career blocked shots. Policicchio also broke the 800-point barrier after scoring a career-high 27 points at Montana State Feb. 27; she now has 819 career points. Senior guard Apiphany Woods is also broke the 800-point scoring barrier after netting 19 at Montana State; she now has 806 career points.

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE CLOSE-UP
During conference play, ISU has limited all but three of its Big Sky opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field. The Bengals rank first in the conference in field goal percentage defense during conference play, forcing their opponents to an average of 35.7 percent shooting. As a result, the Bengals also rank first in scoring defense, limiting their opponents to an average of 61.1 points per game during conference play. ISU ranks first in three-point field goal percentage defense, forcing opponents into shooting an average of 27.9 percent from beyond-the-arc.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Bengals have out-rebounded their opponent 10 times during conference play and have grabbed more boards in six of the last seven games. Idaho State ranks third in the conference in rebounding margin, and has out-rebounded its opponents by an average of 4.3 rebounds per game.

LIMITING OPPORTUNITIES
In conference play, the Bengals are limiting their opponents to an average of 61.1 points per contest, the lowest conference average since the 2012-13 season in which they limited opponents to just 54.5 points per game. However, ISU is averaging just 60.0 points per game, the lowest conference scoring average for the Bengals since the 2008-09 season in which they averaged 61.8 points per game.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
So far this season, the Bengals have played in 11 games decided by five points or less and 10 games decided by three points or less. ISU carries a 5-6 record in games decided by five points or less and a 4-6 record in games decided by three points or less. ISU has been part of a school-record five games decided by one point this season, winning three. During a stretch from Jan. 7 to Feb. 6, the seven games were decided by four points or less.