MACOMB, Ill. - The season-opening road trip of the season continues as Western Illinois (1-1) women's basketball will visit DeKalb on Wednesday night (Nov. 16) and play Northern Illinois (0-1) at 7 p.m.

SEC for Vanderbilt (2-0) started fast on Monday night in Nashville and the Leathernecks were unable to overcome 64 percent shooting from the Commodores and fell 95-51. Sadie Webb led the Purple & Gold with 12 points while Lindsay Carroll added 10 and Michele Salvatori pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.

The Match Up
Who: Western Illinois (1-1) at Northern Illinois (0-1)
When: Wednesday, November 16 at 7 p.m.
Location: DeKalb, Ill.
Arena: Convocation Center (9,100)

Coverage
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
Live WIUS radio broadcast (Free)
Play-by-Play: Michael Broskowski
Color Analyst: Ryne Thorson

Streaming • NIUHuskies.com (Subscription)

Live Stats • NIUHuskies.com (Free)

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Head coach Kathi Bennett (Green Bay, 1986) is in her second season (13-17) leading the Northern Illinois women's basketball staff. In 2010-11, the Huskies went 13-17 and 7-9 in the MAC (4th, West).  NIU returns seven letterwinners and three starters from last season. The Huskies lost its season opener at Loyola, 73-42. Northern did not make a three-pointer and shot 25 percent from the field. NIU also fell in its exhibition contest to Indiana Wesleyan, 61-52. The all-time series advantage belongs to Northern, 19-17. NIU won in Macomb last season, 73-65, and have taken four of the last five meetings.

HUSKIES TO WATCH: Against Loyola Ashley Sneed dropped in 12 points, the only Husky in double-digits. Kim Davis and Shaakira Jakubicek pulled down seven rebounds as NIU out rebounded the Ramblers 39-37. Davis is the returning leading scorer after Marke Freeman (16.1 ppg in 2010-11) and Ebony Ellis (11.1 ppg in 2010-11) graduated. Courtney Shelton averaged 7.9 points last season and dished a team-high 78 assists.

STEP ONE: The JD Gravina era officially began with a win as Western Illinois defeated Hannibal-LaGrange 87-65 on Friday night (Nov. 11). The 87 points were the most scored by a Leatherneck team since Dec. 18, 2005 (109 vs. Illinois Springfield). From the field Western shot 47 percent (31-66) for the night and was 10-16 from behind the arc (63 percent). The 10 three-pointers were the most since Dec. 12, 2009 (14 vs. UIS). Eleven Leathernecks scored on the night and Sadie Webb led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. The Leathernecks scored 36 points off the 25 Hannibal-LaGrange turnovers including an 18-0 edge in fastbreak points.

NON-CONFERNCE SCHEDULE: Trips to Vanderbilt, Northern Illinois, Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, Iowa, Bradley and Nebraska-Omaha highlight the road non-conference schedule. Milwaukee and Nebraska-Omaha visit Western Hall as two of the marquee home non-conference games.

NEW LOOK SUMMIT LEAGUE COMING: The Summit League has experienced a makeover in recent years. Centenary moved to Division III prior to this athletic year. Southern Utah will depart for the Big Sky Conference after this season. Nebraska-Omaha will begin Summit League competition in July 2012. South Dakota joins the Summit League for official competition this season. In October, Oral Roberts announced that it will become the Southland Conference's newest member beginning in July of 2012.

WEBB LEADING THE WAY: No surprise that after two games senior Sadie Webb leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg)... She has a team-high 4-of-10 shooting from long range, and overall is shooting 44.4 percent from the field... She also stands second in rebounding at 5.5 per game... Webb led Western in scoring with 19 against Hannibal-LaGrange and 12 versus Vanderbilt.

WELCOME CARROLL: Lindsay Carroll currently stands fourth on the team in scoring at 7.0 points per game. The freshman guard is shooting 50 percent (2-for-4) from behind the arc in the first two games this season. Carroll poured in 10 at Vanderbilt off the bench.

BENCH SCORING: Western Illinois has used its bench well in the first two competitions this season. The Leatherneck bench has contributed 49 points (of the team's 138 this year) in the two games... Saule Kontautaite led the bench scoring against Hannibal-LaGrange with eight points while Lindsay Carroll added 10 points off the bench at Vanderbilt. Christina Jones also came off the bench in Nashville to collect a career-high six points.

SECOND HALF SURGES: The Purple & Gold have put together three solid second halves this season including the exhibition against Illinois Springfield. Against UIS, the Leathernecks scored 46 second-half points in the 76-69 victory... Western followed with a 48-point performance against Hannibal-LaGrange in the 87-65 win... Despite losing at Vanderbilt, 95-51, the Leathernecks only lost the second half by six, 40-34.

COACHING STAFF: First-year head coach JD Gravina added two new coaches to his staff... Seth Minter and Tiffany Coppage join the Purple & Gold's coaching staff. Kerry Juhlin remains with the program, from the previous staff... Minter joins Western after spending last year as head women's basketball coach at Culver-Stockton College. During the 2010-11 season, Minter led CSC to five conference wins, matching in one year the program's total from the previous three years combined... Coppage spent the 2010-11 season at Wichita State as a graduate assistant coach, part of the Shockers' WNIT squad. A member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Black Coaches Association (BCA), she assisted with video breakdown, day-to-day office operations, practice preparation, team travel and recruiting visits.

RETURNING LEATHERNECKS: Sadie Webb (2010-11 Summit League Newcomer of the Year) leads a large group of returners that look to rebuild the Leatherneck program... The senior averaged 12.0 points per game including a high mark of 26 at Southern Utah. Webb led the team in scoring on 11 occasions in 2010-11 and also averaged 4.8 rebounds per game to lead the squad... Senior guard Valencia Kelly returns and will be important in the transition game Coach Gravina looks to run this season. Kelly averaged 10.1 points and led the team with 79 assists. She was the team's leading scorer on eight occasions a season ago... Junior guard Michele Salvatori will be asked to continue her offensive contribution after a season where she average 7.7 points per game and led the Leathernecks in scoring during four games... Brittany Demery, Tricia Coates and Rachel Evans will also add depth to the Leatherneck inside game... Saule Kontautaite will bring her long-range game to the roster after missing last season due to injury... Jackie Rieger led the team in scoring twice last season and will add some experience and a scoring threat to the roster... Rebecca Henricson and Christina Jones both saw time at point guard last season.

NEWCOMERS: Junior Karis Phillips and freshmen Martyna Kudziela and Lindsay Carroll join the Leathernecks as the three new names on the roster... Women's soccer player Laura Atkinson also was added to the roster before official practice began... Phillips brings her talents to Western Illinois after an All-American season at North Dakota College of Sciences. She averaged 13.7 points per game while handing out 4.6 assists. Phillips shot 37 percent from three-point range and collected 142 assists. Her high school career was also impressive as she was a member of sectional and state championship teams... Carroll is added to the mix after four very successful seasons with Rockton Hononegah High School. She was a three-time team captain and an All-Area and All-Conference selection in each of her first three seasons. She was named All-State Honorable Mention by the Champaign News-Gazette. Carroll averaged 14.7 points and 7.4 assists during her senior season and made 293 career three-pointers and collected 520 assists... Kudziela looks to add length and athleticism to the roster as the six-foot Brisbane, Australia native joins the program... Atkinson joins the women's basketball program and looks to be a two-sport athlete as she also plays women's soccer at Western. She is a standout goalkeeper for the Purple & Gold, Atkinson has been named to the Summit All-League and All-Tournament teams on two occasions and during her freshman season earned All-Newcomer honors. Her high school basketball career was highlighted by All-Conference selections in each of her final three years and averaged 10 points per game for her career.

UP NEXT: After the three-game road trip concludes with a game at Valparaiso the Leathernecks return to Macomb for three straight contests. The first will be on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 4:30 p.m. against Milwaukee.