VALPARAISO, Ind. – After not scoring a field goal in the last two outings, sophomore Amanda Walker tallied 16 points for the Western Illinois women's basketball team. However it was not enough as the Westerwinds (9-17, 5-7 Mid-Con) fell to Valparaiso 58-46 in the final meeting between the teams as Mid-Continent Conference foes in the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The turning point of the game came at with 8:11 remaining in the second half when Launa Hochstetler sank her seventh-straight point to give the Crusaders (16-10, 9-3 Mid-Con) the lead for good. Valpo would start a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to extend their lead to 10 points.

After two-straight defensive battles, with 20 or less points scored by the Westerwinds in the first half of play, Western came out firing against the Crusaders, tallying 28 points in the first twenty minutes of play, including a 12-4 run in the final five minutes of the period.

Early in the half both teams struggled to make shots, with both teams shooting around 25 percent from the field after the first nine minutes of the half. Western was able to rebound, ending the half with a 44 shooting percentage to the Crusaders 27.6.

The Westerwinds were strong on the rebounding side, with junior Stephanie Lovingood garnering nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play. The Peoria, Ill., native helped Western control the tempo of the game by out-rebounding Valpo 20-16 in the half to go along with the 28-21 led on the scoreboard.

"It's a tail of two halves," said head coach Leslie Crane. "I don't know how a team can play so well the first half and look completely out of sink in the second. We weren't aggressive offensively or defensively in the second half, we just sat back on our heals."

The Crusaders opened the second half with strong defense, holding Western without a field goal until 11:24 remaining. During that span Valpo went on a 9-3 run, with all of the Westerwinds points coming off free throws.

Western would attempt to make a come back, holding the Crusaders scoreless for two minutes late in the period. Valpo earned the victory off the shots of Hochstetler, who recorded a career-high 21 points.

The Crusaders also used strong shooting in the second half, recording a 52.4 shooting percentage, while the Westerwinds were only able to sink 20.8 percent of their shots.

Western will now return home for the final two games of the season. Southern Utah will be the first opponent of the weekend with a 4 p.m. tip-off Saturday, Feb. 24. UMKC will be the final regular-season opponent for the Westerwinds when they head to Macomb, Ill., Monday, Feb. 26 for a 7 p.m. game.

Notes: Western's lead at half-time was the first since Feb. 5 against Centenary … the Westerwinds are now 6-4 when leading at the half … two of the losses when leading at the half have come at the hands of Valpo… this was the first double-digit Mid-Con loss in the 2006-07 season for Western … the Westerwinds largest loss in conference prior to today was a nine point loss to Oakland Jan. 13 in Western Hall … Western also saw a double-digit performance from junior Gina Hugelier, who tallied 12 points … Whitney Farris and Betsy Rietema also tallied at least 10 points for the Crusaders … Farris recorded 13, while Rietema garnered 11 … Lovingood ended the game with 11 rebounds for Western, including nine in the first half of play … this was the final regular-season road game for the Westerwinds … Western finishes the season with a 4-10 road mark, including a 3-4 record in league play.

Quotes
Western Illinois Head Coach Leslie Crane
"In the first half we were aggressive and attacked the bucket. I thought that we did a great job holding them to 21 points and out of the paint."

"We are still learning a lot about how to put two halves of basketball together. We did a good job at Oakland, we just didn't keep the consistency tonight that we needed to."

"Stephanie did a nice job eliminating second chance shots for Valparaiso in the first half. I just wish that she had been able to get a few of her shots down today."