No. 19 Northwestern Heads to Austin, Texas for Lone Star Showcase

11/25/2015 2:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

NO. 19 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: LONE STAR SHOWCASE Cedar Park Center - Austin, Texas
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME
Thursday, Nov. 26	Eastern Washington	5 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 27	Creighton	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28	East Carolina	7:30 p.m.
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EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 19 Northwestern (3-0, 0-0 B1G) heads to Austin, Texas, for the Lone Star Showcase, beginning Thursday, Nov. 26. The 'Cats open the tournament with a Thanksgiving Day matchup againts Eastern Washington before tipping off agains Creighton and East Carolina.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is 3-0 on the young season with wins over Howard, Western Michigan and Idaho State. The 'Cats have outscored their opponents by an average of 33 points per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 10th in the country. Northwestern also ranks among the country's top four in assists and steals per game.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON
• The 2015-16 campaign marks Eastern Washington's 34th season as an NCAA Division I member.
• Head coach Wendy Schuller returns for her 15th season on the sideline and is just two victories shy of 200 career wins.
• EWU returned two starters and four letter winners from last year's squad that won 21 games and notched the program's first-ever post season victory, a win over Washington State in the first round of the WNIT.
• Redshirt senior Hayley Hodgins was named the preseason All-Big Sky Team after earning First Team All-Big Sky honors a year ago.
• Sophomore Delaney Hodgins was namedthe Big Sky's Outstanding Freshman last year after averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game
• The Eagles have seven newcomers on this year's roster, including six freshmen.
• Gonzaga handed EWU its first loss of the year on Nov. 19 (78-56)

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
• The Bluejays were 17-1 overall last season and qualified for the national postseason for the eighth consecutive year in 2014-15, earning an at-large bid to the WNIT
• Creighton has five players averaging double-digit points: Audrey Faber (15.0), Sydney Lamberty (12.7) and MC McGrory (12.0)
•The Bluejays have outscored their opponents and average of 19.7 points per game. Their largest margin of victory came against Marist (89-46) on Nov. 15.
• Creighton returned four starters from last year's squad, highlighted by 2014 BIG EAST Player of the Year Marissa Janning.
• A contender for BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors last season, Sydney Lamberty also returns for Creighton. Lamberty is Creighton's No. 2 returning scorer (10.0) behind Janning.
• The Bluejays were picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA
• East Carolina received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time this year.
• ECU is undefeated so far this season (5-0) and have outscored its opponents by an average of 22.6 points.
• The Pirates are coming off a 2014-15 campaign that saw the squad reach the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship in its first year of league membership and record its third-straight 20-win season.
• ECU returned its top two scorers from last season, including All-American Conference First Team selection Jada Payne, as well as Newcomer-of-the-Year and all-league second team pick I'Tiana Taylor.

LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern guard Ashley Deary turned in a career day on Sunday, Nov. 22, with 25 points and 12 assists (both career highs) to help lead the 20th-ranked Wildcats (3-0) over Western Michigan, 86-62. The junior recorded her third-career double-double and was named Big Ten Player of the Week for her performance.