MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois had four players notch double-digit point totals but ended up on the wrong side of a buzzer-beater in a 68-66 loss to Oral Roberts in its Summit League opener on Thursday, Dec. 2 at Western Hall.
The Fighting Leathernecks (0-6, 0-1 Summit) held the lead for over 30 minutes, but a furious rally by the Golden Eagles (4-5, 1-0 Summit) was capped off by Jaci Bigham's jumper as time expired to give Oral Roberts the edge.
"We knew either Bigham or (Kevi) Luper would have the ball on that last possession," said Western Illinois head coach Leslie Crane. "We did a great job on Luper but just didn't get up tight enough on Bigham and she had enough room to hit the shot."
Western Illinois started off the first half with a flurry from beyond the arc, connecting on four three-pointers in the first eight minutes to help build a 14-7 lead at the 12:07 mark.
The Leathernecks would lead by as many as 13 points in in the first half before an 11-2 run by Oral Roberts cut the lead to just four (28-24) with 1:13 remaining in the first half. Western would extend the lead back to eight just before halftime.
"The first half was absolutely textbook," said Crane. "What we saw in the first half was exactly what we want to see from our team. In the second half we played a little more tentative and we need to learn from that."
Western Illinois held Oral Roberts to just 34.5 percent (10-for-29) from the floor in the first half, including an impressive 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from three-point range. The Leathernecks shot 35.5% (11-for-31) in the first half and were paced by Jackie Barton's eight first-half points.
Both teams shot the ball much better in the second half as the Golden Eagles connected on 51.5 percent (17-for-33) of their shots while Western shot 47.6 percent (10-for-21).
Despite the hot start by Oral Roberts in the second frame, the Leathernecks would cling to their lead until Bigham's free throw put the Golden Eagles up by one (55-54) at the 7:57 mark, their first lead of the game.
Western would push its lead to five on two separate occasions in the final six minutes before a three-pointer from Georgia Jones tied the game at 63-63 with just over two minutes remaining. Bigham would give Oral Roberts its second lead of the game (65-63) on the team's next possession.
Jackie Rieger hit one of two free throws at the 1:08 mark to pull Western within one, but Bigham would answer by converting one free throw to put Oral Roberts back up by two (66-64) with 21 seconds to go.
Rieger would get to the line with just six seconds remaining and converted both free throws to tie the game at 66-66, but the Golden Eagles drove the length of the floor and Bigham's jumper from the elbow caught nothing but net to give Oral Roberts the victory.
"We've gotten better every single game," said Crane. "Obviously we have room to grow but we've seen improvement every single game. We're going to end up being a lot better than people thought we were. We came in tonight against the team that was picked to win our conference and never gave up."
Valencia Kelly led Western Illinois with a career-high 16 points while Rieger set a new career-high with 15 points and pulled down seven boards for the second-straight game. Michele Salvatori hit the double-digit mark for the third consecutive game with 12 points while Sadie Webb netted 10 points.
Anne Borgertpoepping led the Leathernecks on the glass with six rebounds while Jackie Barton finished with five rebounds and eight points. Rebecca Henricson set a career-high with four steals.
Bigham led Oral Roberts with 17 points while as the Golden Eagles had four players in double-figures. Luper scored just 13 points, 12 below her season average (25.6).
For the game, Western Illinois shot a season-best 40.4 percent (21-for-52) from the floor, including a 7-for-19 performance from beyond the arc. The Leathernecks also connected on 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the charity stripe.
Western Illinois will return to action on Saturday when they face Summit League foe Centenary at 4:30 p.m. at Western Hall. The first 125 fans in attendance will receive a free Western Illinois foam finger thanks to the Days Inn of Macomb.
