SHREVEPORT, LA. ? Senior Gina Hugelier tallied her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds to help the Western Illinois women's basketball team to a 78-48 victory over Centenary at the Gold Dome. The victory was the seventh straight in The Summit League this season and was head coach Leslie Crane's 100th conference victory.

"It feels great to get my 100th conference win," said head coach Leslie Crane. "I didn't even know that I was that close until everyone was congratulating me tonight."

Hugelier combined with juniors Katy Davenport and Amanda Walker, and sophomore Jordon O'Brien to record a season-high nine three-pointers for the Westerwinds (9-9, 7-0 The Summit League). Each player tallied two trey's, while senior Samantha Quigle added one.

Western opened the scoring with 19:39 remaining, but the Ladies (3-14, 0-7 The Summit League) quickly responded with five-straight points. The Westerwinds then hit the first of five-straight trey's over a three minutes span.

Centenary kept the game close, tying it at 14 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half. Western then started a 14-0 run over the next eight minutes. The Ladies kept pushing, but struggled with turnovers and a 36.0 shooting percentage before scoring six points in the final minute of the half to head into the locker room down by 20 (45-25).

"Our team is working hard in practice and it is showing on the court," Crane said. "I was very pleased with everyone's effort and our execution."

The Westerwinds opened the second half strong, opening up the lead to as many as 37 points with just under nine minutes to play, while holding Centenary scoreless for several minutes at a time.

With eight minutes remaining the Ladies started a 13-1 run over the next 3:30 to pull back within 25 points, but it was not enough as Western scored the final five points of the game. Both teams stepped up the defense in the final 3:45 and held each other scoreless for the remainder of the game.

For the fourth-straight game the Westerwinds recorded a shooting percentage over 45 percent, as they shot 50% (28-56) from the floor. Western held Centenary to a 32.7 (17-52) shooting percentage and forced them into 21 turnovers.

The Westerwinds now return home for the longest home-stand of the 2007-08 campaign. Western plays the first of four games on Waste Management Court at Western Hall when Oakland heads to Macomb for a Saturday, January 26, 2008 4:30 p.m. tip-off.

Notes: Freshman Lindsey Wutt recorded a career-high seven rebounds and six points...Western set a season high for points scored (78) and points scored in the first half (45)...Hugelier was one assist away from a triple-double, as she tallied nine...junior Nicole Myers tallied a season-high 11 points, for her first double-digit performance of 2007-08...junior Jameka McElroy saw her first playing time this season...junior Rasheena Salter saw action for the first time since January 2, 2008 against Kansas State.

Quotes:
Western Illinois Head Coach Leslie Crane
"Tonight's game was big for us especially after the game that we played at Oral Roberts. Our starting five played significant minutes in that game, so it was good to be able to get our bench in and have them respond the way that they did."

"Nicole Myers played the way that I know she can and we want to see the more often from her."

"Everybody contributed tonight. It was a good night all around and it is a good win for us."

"It was the team's goal to be 7-0 before we saw Oakland, but the team knows what they have in front of them."