MACOMB, Ill. – Valencia Kelly poured in a career-high 19 points and two other Fighting Leathernecks scored in double-figures in a 60-42 win over William Woods on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Western Hall.
Western Illinois (2-7) picked up its second victory in its past three games with its win over the Owls. The Leathernecks used an 11-0 run at the very beginning of a game in which they would never trail.
"We played very well in the first half," said head coach Leslie Crane. "It was really important for us to jump out to that big lead because it set the tone and put us in a spot to leave no doubt as to the outcome of the game."
The Leathernecks hit their first five shots to build the early lead. Kelly scored on the team's first possession before Sadie Webb hit a layup and converted a free throw to give Western a 5-0 lead.
Michele Salvatori and Kelly would hit back-to-back threes to stretch the lead to 11-0 before the Owls' Rachel Baker got her team on the board with two free throws.
"We were patient in the first half," said Kelly. "We did a really nice job in transition tonight and that allowed us to get a lot of easy buckets offensively."
William Woods would claw its way back into the contest by cutting Western's lead to 15-10 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half, but a 9-0 run by the Leathernecks pushed the lead back to double-digits at 24-10 with 6:19 remaining.
Western Illinois would head into the break with a 31-17 lead after outscoring the Owls 16-7 over the final eight minutes of the first half. Kelly led Western's first-half efforts with 12 point while Webb added 10.
"As a team I thought we played really well in the first half," Webb said. "We pushed the tempo and got the ball into the post which was really a positive thing to see."
The Leatherneck offense would cool off slightly in the second half while William Woods shot significantly better. Despite outscoring the Owls by just four points (29-25) in the second half, Western's lead was never less than 12 at any point in the final 20 minutes.
Western Illinois led by as many 20 points (43-23) at the 11:58 mark and finished the game 23-for-55 (.418) from the floor. The Leathernecks went 10-for-17 (.588) from the line and 4-for-15 (.267) from beyond the arc.
William Woods went just 11-for-42 (.262) from the floor but did convert 18-of-21 (.857) free throws. Western finished the night with a 39-30 edge in rebounds and snagged 14 offensive boards.
Kelly finished 8-for-13 with five rebounds and three steals while Webb was 6-for-14 and grabbed six boards. Salvatori scored 13 points, her sixth straight game with 10 or more points, while grabbing four boards and dishing out three assists.
Brittany Demery led the Leathernecks with seven rebounds and Jackie Rieger pulled down six. Western Illinois forced 25 turnovers during the contest, the fifth-straight game in which the Leathernecks forced 20 ore more turnovers.
Western Illinois will finish up its five-game home stand with a game against Judson at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 19 before a season-long five-game road trip.
