MACOMB, Ill. - Senior DeeDee Murphy did her best to lead the young Western Illinois women's basketball team to a victory over Bradley, tallying a team-high 13 points and adding three rebounds despite the 90-77 loss at the Robertson Memorial Field House in Peoria, Ill.

All but four of Murphy's points came in the second 20 minutes of play as the team tried to battle back from a six point deficit at the half.

The first half was a tale of turnovers as both teams had trouble early holding on to the ball. Both the Braves and Western committed 13 turnovers a piece in the first 20 minutes of play. Looking at the shooting stats it would look as if Western had the advantage, shooting 54.5 percent from the field, compared to 48.6 percent by Bradley. The difference came from behind the arc, as Western sank only one three point shot, and the Braves drained five.

Bradley opened the game with an 8-4 run before the first media time-out and then went on a 10-5 run between the 12 minute and eight minute marks. After the media time-out under eight the Westerwinds seemed to turn around going on a 19-9 run until the 4:07 mark. After being down by 11 Western pulled back within two before ending the half down by six.

The second half was all Bradley as they came out of the break strong going on a 13-4 run in the first three minutes. Western was plagued by foul trouble early in the the period, with sophomores Sarah Miller, and Jameka McElroy and junior Stephanie Lovingood, each earning their fourth fouls less than eight minutes into the half. Both teams had issues with fouls as they combined for 36 shots from the line in the second half.

Freshman Katy Clark had another strong game for the Westerwinds, tallying 11 points, two rebounds, and one steal. Lovingood tallied 13 points of her own for her second-straight game in double-digits. Also scoring in double-digits for the Westerwinds was sophomore Amanda Walker, tallying all of her 12 points in the second half.

One of the biggest areas for improvement is second-chance points, as the Braves tallied 20 to Western's seven and came down with 16 offensive rebounds.

"The had 20 second chance points," said Head Coach Leslie Crane. "You can't give up that many and win."

Western (1-2), will continue their four-game road swing with two games at the AmeriSuites Midtown Thanksgiving Tournament November 24-25. The Westerwinds will first face Siena Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. (CST). Saturday, Nov. 25 will either see Western and host New Mexico or Georgia Southern hitting the floor at 7 or 9 p.m. (CST).

Quotes
Western Illinois Head Coach Leslie Crane
"The positives are that we shot 47 percent from the floor, 78 percent from the free-throw line and held Devyn Flanagan to 11 points. We just need to keep working on fixing those things that we need to improve on."

"We need to make sure things are getting done defensively, we have done it before we just need to step up and do it again."

"Right now we are all over and they are still trying to learn everything. Tonight they left everything out on the floor, and keep teaching. Pretty soon we will see that will pay off for us."

"It's great to see that everyone is starting to score. We need to keep building on that. Tonight was probably one of the best offensive night in the nine years that I have been here."

"We know that there will always be something positive to build on and we need to make sure to take those out each night and keep working on teaching how to fix the things that we are doing wrong. The kids can't get down on themselves, they need to continue to learn and we are stressing that."