'Cats head to Eastern Washington for two games

OPENING TIP

• Weber State women's basketball hits the road for two Big Sky Conference games at Eastern Washington this week.

• The Wildcats and Eagles will play Thursday night at 6 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. MT) and again on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 12 p.m. PT (1 MT) at Reese Court in Cheney. Both games will be streamed live on Pluto TV 1053 with live stats at WeberStateSports.com.

• The Wildcats are 0-5 overall and 0-2 in Big Sky play. Weber State opened the season on Nov. 27 at Grand Canyon, then hosted Texas A&M International on Nov. 29. The last game played was on Dec. 6 at Boise State. The Wildcats then had more than three weeks after three games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocol. WSU returned to action last week against Idaho State in the Big Sky openers. The 'Cats lost 77-60 to the Bengals on Thursday in Ogden and fell 72-53 in Pocatello on Saturday. The five games played by the Wildcats is tied for the second fewest of any team in the Big Sky so far this season.

• The Wildcats are currently second in the Big Sky and rank 20th in the nation in free throw percentage at 78.2 percent. In last Thursday's game against Idaho State, the Wildcats set a new school record finishing 17 of 17 from the free throw line, the best team performance in a game in school history. Individually, junior Kori Pentzer leads the Big Sky and is 28th in the nation in free throw percentage. Pentzer is 16 of 17 from the line this season for 94.1 percent. She also ranks seventh in the conference in field goal percentage at 50 percent and posted a career-high 14 points in Saturday's game at Idaho State. Pentzer now leads the Wildcats at 10 points per game.

• Eastern Washington enters this week with a 3-6 overall record and is 2-2 in Big Sky play. The Eagles are coming off two road wins at Portland State last weekend. They opened the season with a pair of home losses to Northern Arizona. Eastern Washington is coached by Wendy Schuller who is entering her 20th season at the helm of the Eagles program.

• This will be the 80th all-time meeting between the two schools with Weber State holding a 47-39 all-time lead. The two teams split the series last year with both teams winning at home, including an 83-77 overtime win for Weber State in the final regular season game. In games in Cheney, EWU leads 22-17 all-time and the Eagles have won three of the last four and 10 of the last 12 games played.

• Velaida Harris is back for her third season as head coach of the Wildcats.

• After this weekend's game, the Wildcats will have a bye week next week with no games scheduled. WSU will return to action on Jan. 21 at Southern Utah, before hosting SUU on Jan. 23 at the Dee Events Center.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kori Pentzer

Weber State University Athletics