FARGO, N.D. ? Freshman Lindsey Wutt tallied a career-high 10 points and added five rebounds in the Western Illinois women's basketball team's 63-42 loss to North Dakota State at the Bison Sports Arena.

"I was very please with Lindsey Wutt and Nicole Myers tonight," said head coach Leslie Crane. "Those two ladies played with a lot of enthusiasm and desire. They got after the rebounds and made some big buckets for us and that is very encouraging."

The Bison (13-10, 8-5 The Summit League) opened the game with an 8-0 run before the Westerwinds (11-13, 9-4 The Summit League) got on the board with a three-pointer by senior Gina Hugelier. Hugelier's shot sparked a 7-2 run by Western to cut the lead to three (7-10), but that would be as close as the Westerwinds would get the rest of the game.

NDSU's Brenda Slyt then hit one of her three shots from beyond the arc to push the lead back out to six. With just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half both teams turned up the defensive pressure and held each other scoreless for just over four minutes. Western was the first to break the streak when Wutt scored two buckets in a row to close the gap to four points.

The Bison got back to scoring with 4:48 remaining and started a 17-3 run to end the half up by 18 points, 34-16.

The Westerwinds opened the second half with an 8-3 run over the first three minutes to cut the lead to 13. The teams then started to trade points until Jill Zaruba hit two free throws to started a 7-2 run to push NDSU's lead to 19 points with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Bison then went on a 13-4 run over the next 4:30 to give NDSU a 25-point advantage. Western continued to fight and went on a 9-5 run to end the game.

The Bison shot 42.6 percent from the floor compared to the Westerwinds 25 percent and out-rebounded Western 41-28.

The Westerwinds return home to play the final two games on Waste Management Court at Western Hall for the 2007-08 season. Western first faces Centenary, Saturday, February 16 at 4:30 p.m. The game is part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Think Pink! week to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer.

Fans can purchase pink Western Illinois basketball t-shirts for $12, or $ 8 for students. The shirts are the ticket to the game and can be purchased at the University Union, Wednesday, February 13 and Thursday, February 14 from noon to 1:30 p.m. or by calling 298-1721. A portion of the procedures will go to the McDonough District Hospital Cancer Fund to help those affected by cancer in the local area.

Notes: Western recorded the same number of offensive rebounds as defensive rebounds (14)...all five of Wutt's rebounds came on the offensive side...junior Nicole Myers and sophomore Jordon O'Brien each added eight points for the Westerwinds.

Quotes
Western Illinois head coach Leslie Crane
"I think that we did a much better job in the second half of executing."

"We have four-or-five days that we have to get things mentally righted before Centenary comes into our gym."