MACOMB, Ill. – Sadie Webb scored a career-high 17 points and Western Illinois tallied its largest point total in nearly three years with an 83-35 victory over Judson on Sunday, Dec. 19 at Western Hall.
The victory will count in the win column for Western, while Judson considers the game an exhibition as it is a member of the NAIA.
The Fighting Leathernecks (3-7) used two big scoring runs in the first half to put the Eagles (5-8) away early. Webb scored 12 of her points in the first half as Western shot 45 percent (18-for-40) as a team through the first 20 minutes of action.
"I thought we did some great things offensively, especially on the offensive glass," said head coach Leslie Crane. "We were able to get people significant minutes and everyone who got in the game scored, which was great to see."
The Eagles scored first when Rachel McBride grabbed an offensive board and put in a layup at the 19:37 mark, but the Leathernecks would respond with three-straight points to take the lead.
McBride put Judson back on top with a jumper at the 18:20 mark but a fast-break layup by Michele Salvatori gave Western Illinois a 5-4 lead with 18:10 to go in the first half and the Leathernecks would never let up on their way to an easy win.
"We came into this last home stretch wanting to gain some positive momentum before going to Loyola," said Crane. "We just need to make sure we build on this and learn from the experience today. I was glad that everyone was able to contribute in a positive way and I think we saw that we have a pretty good bench."
Western Illinois would extend its lead to 9-4 on Webb's layup with just under 17 minutes to go before the Eagles would score four-straight to cut the lead 9-8.
The Leathernecks would put an end to the threat, scoring 12 in a row to push the lead to 21-8. Rachel Evans scored four of her six points during the run.
Western would outscore the Eagles 23-11 the rest of the first half and entered the locker room with a 44-19 halftime lead. In addition to Webb's first-half output, Jackie Barton chipped in eight while Jackie Rieger netted six.
The second half played out much the same as the Leatherneck offense stayed on track by shooting 44.8 percent (13-for-29) from the floor, including 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Rebecca Henricson hit a three-pointer for the first bucket of the second half to give Western a 47-19 lead and the Eagles would never come closer than 26 points the rest of the way as the Leathernecks cruised to their second-straight win.
Webb led all scorers with her 17 points. She also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out an assist. Barton finished the game with 11 points and four boards while Tricia Coates, Brittany Demery and Valencia Kelly each scored seven.
Coates grabbed seven boards as did Evans. Christina Jones scored five points and snagged six rebounds while Henricson finished the game with six points and four boards.
All 11 Leathernecks who played in the contest scored at least four points and the team shot 44.9 percent (31-for-69) from the floor while getting to the line a season-high 32 times.
Kim Peek paced the Eagles with nine points as Judson shot just 30.6 percent (15-for-49) from the floor and connected on just 14.3 percent (3-for-21) of its shots from beyond the arc.
The Leathernecks finished with a 51-31 edge in rebounds and forced Judson into 29 turnovers while committing 14 of their own. Western's 83 points were the most in a single game since an 83-37 win over Centenary on Dec. 31, 2005.
The 29 turnovers by the Eagles were the most that the Leathernecks have forced since Illinois-Springfield turned the ball over 30 times on Dec. 12, 2006.
Judson's 35 points were the lowest total for a Western Illinois opponent since a 60-32 win over Centenary on Feb. 5, 2007 and the 32 free-throw attempts by the Leathernecks were the most since the team shot 33 against Centenary on Feb. 14, 2009.
Western Illinois will head to Loyola on Wednesday at 2 p.m. before taking on Purdue on Dec. 28. The Leathernecks return to Summit League action at IUPUI on Dec. 31 before finishing a five-game road trip at Oakland (Jan. 8) and IPFW (Jan. 10).
