CEDAR CITY, Utah - Western Illinois used a solid offensive showing in the first half as a springboard to power past Southern Utah, 77-62, on Monday, Jan. 24 at Centrum Arena.
The Fighting Leathernecks (6-13, 4-5) shot 51.5 percent (17-for-33) from the floor in the and had three players score in double figures in the first half as they downed the Thunderbirds (11-9, 5-4) to conclude a two-game road trip.
Southern Utah scored first on Challis Pascucci's layup but s the Leathernecks scored the next six points and never trailed at any point the rest of the way.
Western Illinois would get their first double-digit lead (17-7) on Brittany Demery's layup with 14:41 to go in the first half before a layup by Caitlyn Sears cut the lead to eight (17-9) on the next possession.
Valencia Kelly's three-pointer at the 12:06 mark would put the lead back to ten points (23-13) before the Thunderbirds scored five points in a row to cut the deficit to five, the closest they would come the rest of the game.
The Leathernecks led by as many as 14 points in the first half after Michele Salvatori hit a layup with just over eight minutes to give Western a 32-18 lead.
Southern Utah would cut the lead to 32-25 and force the Leathernecks to take a timeout after a five-minute scoring drought. Kelly and Sadie Webb each connected in the closing minutes to send Western Illinois to the locker room with a 38-25 halftime lead.
The second half would feature much of the same as Western continued to drain buckets. The Thunderbirds were able to close the gap to eight points on two different occassions in the second half, but the Leathernecks answered each time.
After Pascucci drained two free-throws with 14:53 remaining, the Leathernecks went on a 9-3 run to push the lead to 54-50. Valencia Kelly hit both free-throws with 6:25 left in regulation to push the lead to 18 points (67-49).
Western Illinois would enjoy its biggest lead of the contest (75-54) with 2:55 remaining when Kelly hit the first of two free throws. The 77 points scored were the most for the Leathernecks since an 83-35 win over Judson on Dec. 19.
Webb led all scorers with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting while Kelly also set a career-high with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Salvatori scored 11 points and Jackie Barton grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Rachel Evans finished with six rebounds and four points off the bench.
Pascucci paced the Thunderbirds 23 points and snagged 11 boards while Anderson led all players with 16 rebounds. The Leathernecks held Sears to just eight points, nearly eight points below her season average (15.9 ppg).
As a team, Western Illinois shot 48.4 percent (31-for-64) from the floor and converted 10-of-15 free throws. Southern Utah managed to shoot just 35.8 percent (24-for-67) in the contest, though the Thunderbirds did win the battle on the boards 46-39.
The Leathernecks will return to action against IUPUI at home on Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. tipoff. The matchup against the Jaguars is the first in a three-game homestand.
