MACOMB, Ill.- Four Golden Eagles' players scored in double figures to soar past the Western Illinois women's basketball team, 82-57, on Saturday afternoon.
The first half of action was back and forth as the Fighting Leathernecks (5-12, 1-5 Summit League) got within one on an Ashley Lord basket at the 11:13 mark, but it was as close as the team would get as the Golden Eagles (11-7, 4-2 Summit League) went on a 15-6 run to take 10 point lead (31-21) with 2:23 left to play in the half. Jordon O'Brien hit back-to-back free throws to get Western back within eight (31-23) with just under two minutes, but Oral Roberts went on a 10-1 run to end the half with a 41-24 advantage.
“We had a tough time tonight with our offensive and defensive organization and that really hurt us in the last two minutes of the first half,” said Western Illinois head coach Leslie Crane. “The end of the first half really put us out of striking distance.”
The Leathernecks only got as close as 14 points (50-36) in the second half on back-to-back free throws by Jackie Rieger at the 12:45 mark. Oral Roberts lead by 20 or more points in the final 10 minutes with their largest lead of the game (79-48) coming on a Jordon Pyle layup with 3:13 remaining in the contest. Western finished the game on a 9-3 run, but it was not enough to defeat the nation's No. 3 scoring offense as the Golden Eagles held on for the 82-57 victory.
Michele Salvatori and Jackie Rieger led the Western offense with 11 and 10 points, both season highs for the freshmen. Jackie Barton added nine points and Anneloes Kodde and Jordon O'Brien chipped in six points each. Nine Leathernecks scored in the game with 31 points coming off the bench.
“I'm getting more and more comfortable with our bench,” said Crane. “Tonight they showed some really good things and gave us a nice glimpse of what they can do. Hopefully they can help us spread some more points around and put more up on the scoreboard.”
Oral Roberts scored 29 points off 26 Western turnovers and collected 14 steals in the contest.
“Something I've really had to work on is just being strong with the ball,” said Rieger. “Being a freshman can be hard because of the size and strength difference so that's been a learning experience for me.”
Western won the battle on the glass by one (46-45), led by Barton's game-high 10 rebounds after missing the team's last game at IUPUI due to an illness.
“Jackie Barton played really well coming back from an illness tonight,” said Crane. “I thought she had a really good game as did some of the younger players like Michelle (Salvatori) and Jackie (Rieger).”
After only shooting 26.7 percent from behind the arc in the first half (4-15), the Golden Eagles drained 50 percent of their three-point baskets in the second half (8-16). Jackie Bigham scored a game-high 24 points and was 6-for-12 from behind the arc.
Oral Roberts took 13 more shots than the Leathernecks in the contest (66-53) and shot 39.4 percent from the floor compared to Western's 34 percent outing. Both teams struggled from the charity strip as Western only shot 62.5 percent from the line (15-for-24) and Oral Roberts shot 64.3 percent from the line (18-for-28).
“We've really got to take care of the ball better and just be more consistent,” said Crane. “Our focus just really needs to be on the game planning for Centenary right now.”
The Leathernecks and Ladies square off at 7 p.m. in Summit League action on Monday, Jan. 18.
