MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois (2-4, 0-1) women's basketball concludes its longest home stand of the season as Summit League play continues inside Western Hall with North Dakota State (2-4, 0-1) visiting on Friday (Nov. 30).

Webb led the Leathernecks with 12 points, her seventh straight game in double-figures. Kelly turned in a 10-point performance and dished out four assists. Salvatori and Christina Jones both collected six points.

The Match Up
Who: North Dakota State (2-5, 0-1) at Western Illinois (2-4, 0-1)
When: Friday, December 2 at 7 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Arena: Waste Management Court in Western Hall (5,139)

Coverage
Television • wiutv3

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

Streaming • GoLeathernecks.com (Subscription)
Play-by-Play: Drew Hoffman
Color Analyst: David Mitchell

Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com (Free)

SCOUTING THE BISON: Head Coach Carolyn DeHoff (Arizona State, 1991) is in her 4th season leading the North Dakota State (47-47) women's basketball program. In 2010-11, the Bison went 13-16 including a 9-9 record in The Summit League (T6th/10) but lost to South Dakota State, 62-51, in the opening round of The Summit League Tournament. A tough non-conference schedule has the Bison at 2-5, 0-1 entering play on Friday. Losses to Green Bay, Creighton, Minnesota and Duquesne and wins over Nevada and Valley City State highlighted the early part of the schedule. Most recently, NDSU fell at IUPUI 49-39. North Dakota State leads the all-time series 7-2 with the last meeting coming on Feb. 14, 2011 in Fargo, N.D., a game that the Bison won 65-50. Last season's first meeting went the way of the Leathernecks, 68-66, the first victory by Western since 2008.

BISON TO WATCH: 2010-11 First Team All-Summit League selection, senior Abby Plucker, averaged 16 ppg and 10.1 rpg last season and leads NDSU in both categories again this season. Plucker is at 11.6 ppg and 10.4 rpg so far this season. She also has eight steals. Dani DeGagne is second on the team with 10.6 ppg while Kahla Becken is averaging 8.4 ppg and 3.6 apg. Janae Burich has 22 blocks this season and is second on the team with 6.4 rpg.

LAST TIME THEY MET: The last meeting between the Bison and the Leathernecks came on Feb. 14, 2011 in Fargo, N.D. The Fighting Leathernecks (7-17, 5-9) kept the game close throughout the first half as the Bison (13-12, 9-6) were unable to take control until midway through the second period. Western Illinois led just once in the first half after Jackie Barton and Valencia Kelly scored on consecutive possessions to give the Leathernecks a 4-1 lead at the 18:12 mark. Webb led all scorers with 21 points on 5-for-16 shooting and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Demery chipped in with 11 points and grabbed four boards while Borgertpoepping dished out four assists. Western Illinois shot just 29.1 percent (16-for-55) from the floor but did convert 92.9 percent (13-for-14) of their shots from the charity stripe. Webb finished the night 9-for-10 from the free throw line.

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.

WEBB LEADING THE WAY: No surprise that after three games senior Sadie Webb leads the team in scoring (17.0). Six consecutive double-figure scoring performances this season was highlighted with a career-high 31 points against Northern Illinois. Webb was 9-for-18 from the field including 2-for-4 from long range and 11-for-16 from the free throw line. It was the first time a Leatherneck had scored 30 or more points since Kinesha Davis against Youngstown State on Jan. 18, 1998 when she had 34 points. Against Milwaukee, Webb collected a double-double (11 points/10 rebounds) in the loss. The senior has scored in double-digits in seven straight dating back to last season and has reached the mark in 71 percent (24/34) of her games as a Leatherneck.

SEEING DOUBLE: Michele Salvatori turned in back-to-back double-doubles at Northern Illinois with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Valparaiso with 18 points and 11 rebounds, the 18 points is a career high. She collected the first such performance since Sadie Webb did it against Southern Utah on Feb. 19, 2011 with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Salvatori is now the second player on the roster to record a double-double. Brittany Demery joined the fun with 15 points and 10 boards at Valparaiso, the 15 points matched a career high and the 10 rebounds was a new high mark for the senior forward. She leads the team 9.0 rpg a game including 18 offensive rebounds this season of her 54 total boards. Salvatori was also named Papa John's Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Nov. 26 for her performance on the court and in the classroom.

SECOND HALF SURGES: The Purple & Gold have been a second half team this season. Against UIS (exhibition), 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. And just recently, Western outscored NIU 33-30 to force overtime before falling in the second overtime on Wednesday (Nov. 16). Western used a second half comeback to collect a road victory at Valparaiso, in which it outscored the Crusaders 46-26 in the second half. Another comeback attempt fell short against Milwaukee as Milwaukee led 37-27 at the half but the leathernecks charged back to tie the game at 39-39 early in the second half, the Panthers outscored Western 42-39 in the final period on Saturday (Nov. 26). On the season, the Leathernecks have outscored their opponents 234-219 in second halves as opposed to being outscored 224-160 in the first half.

SIGNING CLASS: First-year Western Illinois women's basketball head coach JD Gravina and his staff announced the signing of four high school athletes to join the Purple & Gold in 2012. The four include two three-star recruits and three Illinois athletes. Michelle Maher (5-9, Guard) from Park Ridge, Ill. and Maine South High School is four-time letterwinner in basketball while collecting 811 career points and helped Maine South collect a third place finish at the 2011 State Tournament. Paige Harmon (6-0, Forward) from Oswego, Ill and Oswego High School is a three-star prospect by ESPN and averaged 21.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while scoring over 35 points on four different occasions and pulling down 20 rebounds on three occasions. Liz Skotowski (5-9, Guard) from Mt. Vernon, Iowa and Mt. Vernon High School is a four-time letterwinner and member and was state runner-up her junior year. Charnelle Reed (5-10, Guard) from Flossmoor, Ill. and Homewood-Flossmoor High School is another three-star recruit as ranked by ESPN and average 13.2 points as a junior while being named Honorable Mention IBCA All-State.

FRESHMAN DEAD EYE: Lindsay Carroll is shooting 53 percent (9-for-18) from behind the arc this season and knocked down four against Milwaukee on Saturday. Carroll collected a team-high 18 points in her 20 minutes. Her second half was a catalyst for the comeback as she collected 14 of her 18 points in the final 20 minutes. The 53 percent clip would be a single-season record. Currently, Michelle Nason has the record (with a min. of 50 attempts) with her 49 percent (47-of-95) in 1990-991.

CHARITY STRIPE: Western Illinois has tied for the most free throw attempts this season with 137 while making 100 of them for a 73 percent clip. North Dakota State has also attempted 137 free throws but have only made 93, 70 percent. Sadie Webb is 24-of-33 from the line, Lindsay Carroll is 16-of-19 and Brittany Demery is 15-of-19.

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.

UP NEXT: The Leathernecks take a break from Summit League action with two non-conference contests at Eastern Illinois (Dec. 5) and Iowa (Dec. 9).