MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois (3-7, 1-1) women's basketball returned to action after a two-week hiatus as Nebraska Omaha (8-4) visited Western Hall on Tuesday night (Dec. 20). A game that featured 14 lead changes and six ties was won by UNO, 65-58.
Despite 18 points off 23 Maverick turnovers and a 20-2 advantage in second chance points, the Leathernecks were unable to control UNO and its halftime lead, especially the Maverick bench that combined for a 25-point performance. The visitors also used 26 points-in-the-paint to supplement its strong bench play.
The Purple & Gold opened the game with a 4-3 lead during the first media timeout after a jumper from Valencia Kelly. Saule Kontautaite drilled a deep ball at 14:08 to give Western a 9-7 lead and forced UNO to take a timeout.
Jackie Rieger followed with a long-range shot of her own giving the Purple & Gold a 15-9 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
The Mavericks would cut the deficit to 17-15 with a bucket from Zenta Liepa with seven minutes left in the first half.
A loose ball led to a scramble and a fast break layup from Michele Salvatori stretching the home lead to 21-17 with 3:21 remaining. The late first half flurry continued with a Sadie Webb three-pointer at the 2:08 mark giving the Leathernecks a 25-21 lead.
Christina Jones converted a fast break layup as she was fouled but failed to convert the three-point play but did extend the lead to 27-21 with 1:27 left before halftime.
The Mavericks turned the ball over 15 times in the first half allowing Western to collect 12 points-off-turnovers. Western shot just 25 percent from the field in the first stanza but did hit four three-pointers.
Webb led all scorers with 14 points in the first half and also pulled down five boards. Jamie Nash led the Mavericks with 10 points.
UNO started the second half with eight quick points to tie the game at 29-29 with 18 minutes left in the game. The visitors eventually took the lead 32-29 after a three-pointer from Heather Pohl at the 17:33 mark forcing Coach JD Gravina to burn a timeout.
Salvatori knocked down a jumper to bring Western with one at 35-34 at the 13-minute mark and followed up with an offensive rebound and put back giving the Leathernecks the 36-35 lead.
Kontautaite collected her first three-pointer of the night to give Western a 39-37 lead at the 11:08 mark but the Mavericks were quick to push the tempo and tie the score at 39-39 on a Cathleen Cox layup.
Webb converted one of two free throws to give the Leathernecks a 40-39 lead. However, UNO again was quick to answer as Stacia Gebers knocked down a jumper swinging the lead back to UNO, 41-40, with 9:46 on the clock.
The back and forth battle continued until Western eventually had a four point lead, 49-45, after a three-pointer from Webb with 6:18 left in the game.
The next three minutes featured two more ties until UNO was able to gain control of the game and converted 8-of-9 free throws in the final two minutes to steal the win away from Western, 65-58.
The Leathernecks shot 26 percent (21-of-80) from the field on the night including a 25 percent (7-of-28) performance from behind the arc. Webb was the only scorer in double-digits as she also collected nine rebounds as Kelly chipped in nine while Kontautaite collected eight points. Salvatori contributed eight points and pulled down nine boards.
Four Mavericks turned in double-digit scoring performance led by Nash with 17 points. Pohl pulled down 11 boards as UNO won the rebounding battle 54-48.
The Leathernecks will play on back-to-back nights, as the team will travel to Bradley for a Wednesday night battle with the Braves at 7 p.m. in Peoria.
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