FARGO, N.D. - Sadie Webb fell just short of her second double-double of the season as Western Illinois fell to North Dakota State by a score of 65-50 on Monday, Feb. 14 at Bison Sports Arena.
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.
North Dakota State would take the lead three different times over the next eight minutes of play but Western answered each time, tying the game at 10-10 on Brittany Demery's jumper with just under 11 minutes remaining.
The Bison would mount a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 17-10 lead on Danielle DeGagne's layup at the 7:52 mark but the Leathernecks would score eight of the next 10 points to close the gap to 19-18 with 5:46 remaining.
Abby Plucker's three-pointer with five minutes remaining put the Bison up 22-18 but Sadie Webb would answer with a three-point jumper of her own to make it 22-21.
North Dakota State would score four-straight points to take a 26-21 lead before a pair of Webb free throws cut the deficit to three with 2:14 to go in the half.
Katie Birkel put the Bison back up by six points (29-23) with just over a minute remaining before Michele Salvatori scored five-straight points to bring the Leathernecks within a single point (29-28) at the half.
The Leathernecks would take the lead on the first possession of the second half when Webb hit a long jumper from the right wing to make it 30-29.
North Dakota State would answer 14-straight points from the 18:43 mark to the 14:20 mark to take a 43-30 lead before Kelly stopped the run with a layup to make it 43-32 with just over 14 minutes left.
Webb would pull the Leathernecks within 10 points (43-33) with a free throw after she was fouled in the lane but the Bison would score the next five points to jump back in front 48-33.
A pair of free throws and a layup from Brittany Demery would cut the deficit to 11 points (48-37) with less than 12 minutes left in regulation.
North Dakota State would score the next six points to push the lead to 15 (52-37) before Anne Borgertpoepping drained a jumper from beyond the arc to make it 52-40 with just over eight minutes to play.
The Leathernecks would pull back within 10 points on two different occasions in the closing minutes but were unable to get any closer as they dropped their fourth game in a row.
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.
The Bison shot 45.1 percent (23-for-51) and were paced by Birkel's team-leading 16 points. Danielle DeGagne led all players with 10 rebounds as North Dakota State won the battle on the boards by a 37-33 count.
The Leathernecks will return to action for their final home games of the season when they play host to Southern Utah (Feb. 19) before taking on UMKC (Feb. 21) in the home finale.
