Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Women's Basketball Championship
75
South Dakota USD 22-7, 11-5
81
Winner Western Illinois WIU 23-6, 13-3
South Dakota USD
22-7, 11-5
75
Final
81
Western Illinois WIU
23-6, 13-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
South Dakota USD 25 15 12 23 75
Western Illinois WIU 18 22 19 22 81

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Women's Basketball Defeats South Dakota, Claims Outright Regular Season Title

Western Illinois captures its first outright league title since 2005-06 in front of a record attendance.

PHOTO GALLERY 
JD GRAVINA POSTGAME INTERVIEW
MALLORY BOYLE INTERVIEW
TOURNAMENT BRACKET 

MACOMB, Ill. -  In front of the largest crowd in program history, the Western Illinois women's basketball team picked up an 81-76 Senior Day victory over South Dakota to win the Summit League Regular Season Championship outright.

"It's a dream come true," said head coach JD Gravina. "We've built something special here. These girls believed, and it was a special day in front of a special crowd. It doesn't get any better. It took a special group of girls and we found an identity. We have great leadership and they are everything you could ask for in a team. Every single person on this team is very selfless and I'm lucky to be a part of it."

The win marked the first regular season league title since 2005-06, and also matched a program-best 23 wins. Seniors Mallory Boyle and Jasmine Patrick also cap off their last regular season game with bang.

"Mallory and Jasmine have been a huge part of changing and building our culture one game at a time," said Gravina.

The Leathernecks fell behind early after South Dakota managed to jump out to a 15-5 lead at the first quarter media timeout. A pair of threes from Michelle Farrow and Taylor Higginbotham helped Western claw back to within seven points after one quarter of play.

A 16-6 run capped off by a Jasmine Patrick 3-pointer made it a one-possession game with 6:09 to go in the second. Western eventually cut the Coyote's lead at 31-30 with 4:56 to go until the half. Shortly after, Emily Clemens found Morgan Blumer on a nice cut for a layup to put her at third all-time for career assists in program history and to take a 32-31 lead. The Coyotes responded and regained the advantage, but Taylor Higginbotham's 15-foot turnaround jumper tied the score up at 40-all heading into the locker room.

Western opened the second half on a transition layup from Higginbotham to go up 42-40. South Dakota regained the lead, but Blumer answered with a short jumper inside the paint to put Western back up 46-45. A crucial 3-point play by Higginbotham with 2:20 to go gave the Purple and Gold a 52-49 lead. From there, Western Illinois never trailed for the remainder of the game.

But the sophomore from Germantown, Wis., was not done there. She followed up with a buried 3-pointer in front of her team bench and sparked an 11-4 Western run. After three quarters of play, the Leathernecks held on to a 59-52 lead.

A minute into the fourth quarter, Clemens made it a 10-point game with a three. A South Dakota technical foul with 4:28 to play eventually gave Western a 72-60 lead after Clemens knocked down another pair from the charity stripe.

South Dakota eventually pressed and cut the game into single digits, but the Leathernecks never let the remainder of game get to within a possession.

Western Illinois was led by the 24 points and 10 assists to one turnover from Emily Clemens, who has now tied a program record for the most assists in a single season with 205. The junior's 16-of-16 free throws marked the second-best single game free throw percentage in program history - just one shy of the record. As a team, Western finished 20-of-20 at the free throw line.

Taylor Higginbotham recorded a game-high 25 points, hitting four 3-pointers, while Morgan Blumer added 10 points and eight boards.

"They [South Dakota] came out on fire hitting those corner threes, but we were able to eventually make them find tough baskets and that's what our defense was able to do," said Gravina.  

South Dakota's Abigail Fogg had 20 points and eight rebounds, followed by Jaycee Bradley (18 points), Allison Arens (14) and Madison McKeever (12), who rounded out the double-digit scoring.

With the No. 1 seed locked up for the Summit League Tournament, Western Illinois will now set its sights to No. 8 seeded Denver in Sioux Falls, S.D. Tipoff is scheduled for Saturday, March 4 at noon.

"People still don't see us as the favorite entering the tournament, but we have no reason to question ourselves and we want to keep the magic going. We're excited to get to Sioux Falls," said Gravina.

PROGRAM NOTES:
-Western Illinois has won its first regular season league title since 2005-06 and sixth Summit League regular season title all-time…
-The Leathernecks have matched a program-record 23 wins (23-7 in 2005-06)… also set a new program record for the most home wins in a single season… 23 is the most regular season wins in program history… also won 12 of the last 14…
-1,596 is the largest women's basketball attendance record in Western Hall… also the first-ever win over South Dakota inside Western Hall…
-Western Illinois is 2-0 when tied at halftime… 15-0 when scoring at least 80 points in a game…
-The win also marks head coach JD Gravina's third conference championship in his career…. his first at Western Illinois and on the Division I level…

PLAYER NOTES:
-Emily Clemens has now tied Jolene Hanig (1989-90) for the most assists for a season in program history with 205… 411 career assists moves her to third all-time in program history… 24 points and 10 assists marks her seventh double-double this season (career eighth)… 16th game this season of scoring 20-plus points (career 19th)… 10th career 40-plus minute game… 20th five-plus assist game (career 35th)… also set a new career-high in free throws made by going 16-for-16 from the charity stripe…
-Olivia Braun' five blocks mark the fourth time this season of recording five or more blocks in a game…
-Morgan Blumer's 10 points marks her 26th career double-digit scoring game (all this season)… eight rebounds marks the 15th time this season as the team rebounds leader…
-Taylor Hanneman's two steals ties her career-high for the third time…
-Taylor Higginbotham's 25 points mark the eighth time this season as the scoring leader (career 16th)… also marks her sixth 20-plus point game this season (career 11th)… four 3-pointers ties her season high for the sixth time… also eclipsed the 800-point mark with 801 career points as a Leatherneck…
 
Print Friendly Version