MACOMB, Ill.- The Western Illinois women's basketball team will open Summit League action with games against Oral Roberts and Centenary later this week.

The Fighting Leathernecks will face Oral Roberts at 6 p.m. on Thursday before taking on Centenary at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The two games are the first of a season-long five game homestand. Both the Golden Eagles and Ladies will play in non-league contests on Tuesday before making the trip to Macomb.

The Matchups
Who: Western Illinois (0-5) vs. Oral Roberts (2-5)
When: Thursday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Arena: Waste Management Court at Western Hall (5,139)

Who: Western Illinois (0-5) vs. Centenary (0-3)
When: Saturday, Dec. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Arena: Waste Management Court at Western Hall (5,139)

Coverage
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
WQMZ (104.1 FM, Macomb)
WRMS (94.3 FM, Beardstown)
Live WIUS radio broadcast (Free)

Streaming Video • Rocky Vision (subscription)

Television • wiutv3 (channel 3, Macomb)

Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com (Free)
 

Previously at Milwaukee: Western Illinois nearly rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit but was unable to complete the comeback in a 70-55 loss at Milwaukee... the Leathernecks mounted a 17-4 run in the final eight minutes of the first half and trailed 30-25 at the break... Jackie Rieger scored seven points during the first-half run.

Last Time Out Against Oral Roberts: The last meeting between the two teams came on Feb. 15, 2010 in Tulsa... Oral Roberts defeated Western Illinois 82-52 in the contest... Kevi Luper scored a game-high 25 points for the Golden Eagles... Anneloes Kodde led Western Illinois with 12 points and Anne Borgertpoepping scored 11... Western Illinois had beaten Oral Roberts four-straight times before dropping both contests last season... the Leathernecks also won four-straight from 2003-04... Oral Roberts won the first five contests in the all-time series.

Scouting The Golden Eagles: Oral Roberts enters this week on a five-game losing streak... the Golden Eagles won their first two contests of the season... Oral Roberts will play at Missouri State on Tuesday (Nov. 30) before making the trip to Macomb... Kevi Luper leads the Golden Eagles with 25.1 points per game... Jaci Bigham (16.4) and Jordan Pyle (16.3) each average in double-digits.

Last Time Out Against Centenary: Western Illinois downed Centenary by a 61-50 scored in Shreveport when the teams met on Feb. 13, 2010... the Leathernecks swept the season-series last year and are a perfect 14-0 all-time against the Ladies... Jackie Barton scored a team-high 13 points in the last meeting... Anne Borgertpoepping chipped in with 12 points... the 11-point win in the last meeting was the closest result between the two teams since Western's 67-58 win in 2007.

Scouting the Ladies: Centenary is looking for its first win of the season as it enters the week... the Ladies will play at Northwestern State on Tuesday (Nov. 30) before coming to Macomb... Centenary features two players who average double-digits in scoring...
 Ne-Ne Cook leads the team with 16.7 points per game while Ashley Jackson averages 10... Centenary has not won since a 67-57 victory over IUPUI on Feb. 15, 2010.

Leathernecks Picked Seventh in Summit League: Western Illinois was picked seventh in the 2010-11 Summit League preseason poll... the Leathernecks return six players from last year's squad... Western tied Southern Utah for seventh place with 162 points in the poll... Oral Roberts was picked first with 438 points and 26 first place votes... South Dakota State was selected second with 393 points and four first place votes... Oakland (336 points), IPFW (285) and North Dakota State (274) rounded out the top five... UMKC was picked sixth with 253 votes... IUPUI and Centenary were selected ninth and tenth, respectively.

Record Watch: Steals: Anne Borgertpoepping finished last season with 64 steals... Borgertpoepping has recorded 97 steals while at Western Illinois... she needs 40 more steals this season to move in to a tie for 9th place in program history for career-steals.
Borgertpoepping Dishes the Rock: The senior guard also had a great performance in setting up her teammates at Milwaukee... Borgertpoepping dished out a career-high nine assists against the Panthers and also grabbed four boards... she has now set new carer-highs in rebounds in a single game (12) and assists in a game this season.

Salvatori Sets Career Marks: Michele Salvatori had yet another career-day at Milwaukee... the sophomore scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed a season-high five rebounds... she broke her previous career-high in points, which was 13 at Kanas State (11/21)... she currently leads the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) and is shooting a stellar 40.5 percent (15-for-37) from the floor... she has also converted 84.6 percent (11-for-13) from the foul line.

Rieger Keys Run: Jackie Rieger provided a huge boost for the Leathernecks in their game against Milwaukee... she scored a career-high 13 points in the contest, including seven in a crucial 17-4 first-half run that cut the deficit from 18 to five at the break... she also set career-highs in rebounds (7) and steals (5) in the game.

Up Next: The Leathernecks will step out of Summit League play for home games against Bradley (Nov. 7), William Woods (Nov. 11) and Judson (Nov. 19) before hitting the road for five-straight games.