KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Sadie Webb recorded a double-double as Western Illinois nearly rallied from a 16-point deficit in a 58-51 loss to UMKC on Saturday, Jan. 22 at Swinney Recreation Center.
The Fighting Leathernecks (5-13, 3-5) dropped their second Summit League contest in a row as the Kangaroos (8-11, 3-5) built a 31-17 halftime lead en route to their third-straight victory over Western Illinois.
Western Illinois struggled offensively in the first half, shooting just 15.4 percent (4-of-26) from the floor in the first half before mounting a furious second-half rally that cut UMKC's lead to as few as six points with eight minutes remaining.
The Kangaroos took their first double-digit lead at 15-4 on Eilise O'Connor's jumper with 14:36 remaining in the first half and held the Leathernecks without a field goal for nine and a half minutes as they built a 20-5 lead.
Valencia Kelly's jumper with 8:37 remaining put an end to the field goal drought before Webb converted all three free throws at the 5:51 mark to pull Western within 12 points (26-14).
Western Illinois would hit a second offensive slump late in the first half as it was unable to connect from the floor in the final six minutes and allowed UMKC to enter the locker room with a 14-point halftime lead.
The Leathernecks would storm back in the second half, scoring 34 points on 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from the floor, including 8-for-10 from the charity stripe.
Webb hit two free throws with just under 17 minutes remaining to cut UMKC's lead to 35-25 before the Kangaroos went back up by 12 (37-25) on a pair of free throws by Simone Bridges at the 16:41 mark.
Kelly would hit the front end of a one-and-one seven minutes later to cut the deficit to 43-33. Michele Salvatori grabbed the rebound as Kelly missed her second free throw and got the put back to cut the lead to nine, the first time the Leathernecks trailed by less than 10 since UMKC led 13-4 with 15:44 to go in the first half.
Webb would hit another pair of free throws with eight minutes remaining to make it 53-47 before UMKC reeled off a 10-5 run to take an 11-point lead (53-42) on O'Connor's floater with two and a half minutes to play.
Salvatori's three-pointer with just under two minutes to go cut the lead to eight (53-45) before O'Connor connected on two more free throws to push the lead back to 10 points.
Kelly and Salvatori scored the next four points for the Leathernecks to make it 56-49 with under a minute remaining but a jumper by Ashli Hill with 33 seconds left all but sealed the win for UMKC.
Jackie Rieger hit a jumper with 14 seconds on the clock to make the final score 58-51 as the Leathernecks outscored UMKC 34-27 in the second half.
Kelly scored a team-high 13 points on 6-for-13 shooting while Webb netted 12 and pulled down a game and career-high 11 rebounds. Her double-double was the first for the Leathernecks since Erica Lewis went for 15 and 10 against Jackonsville State on Nov. 27, 2009.
Salvatori finished with 10 points and five rebounds while Rieger and Brittany Demery each finished with five points. Rebecca Henricson was credited with five steals and five players dished out two assists.
Jade Tinner paced UMKC with a game-high 14 points while O'Connor and Hill each finished with 12 for the Kangaroos who also won the rebounding battle by a 45-37 margin.
The Leathernecks shot 30.2 percent (16-for-53) from the floor but did connect on 17-of-23 free throw attempts. UMKC shot 36.7 percent (22-for-60) but was just 2-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Western Illinois will complete its two-game road trip with a game at Southern Utah at 8 p.m. on Monday before heading back to Macomb for three straight.
