The Fighting Leathernecks will face Oral Roberts at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Centenary at 7 p.m. on Monday. Western Illinois is looking to snap a six-game losing streak.

Western will take on Oral Roberts again when the teams square off in the first round of The Summit League Tournament at noon on Saturday, March 5. The Golden Eagles are the No. 1 seed while the Leathernecks are the No. 8 seed.

The Matchups
Who: Western Illinois (7-19, 5-11) vs. Oral Roberts (18-9, 14-2)
When: Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2:05 p.m.
Location: Tulsa, Okla.
Arena: Mabee Center

Who: Western Illinois vs. Centenary (0-23, 0-16)
When: Monday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.
Location: Shreveport, La.
Arena: Gold Dome

Coverage
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
WQMZ (104.1 FM, Macomb)
WRMS - Saturday (94.3 FM, Beardstown)
Live WIUS radio broadcast (Free)

Streaming Video • ORUGoldenEagles.com & GoCentenary.com (subscription)

Live Stats • ORUGoldenEagles.com & GoCentenary.com (free)
 

PREVIOUSLY VS. SUU: Western Illinois struggled on offense in the first half and Southern Utah never trailed as it cruised to a 65-53 victory over the Leathernecks... Western shot just 22.2 percent (6-for-27) in the first half but fared better in the second, shooting 43.8 percent (14-for-32)... Sadie Webb recorded her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds... Anne Borgertpoepping (11) and Valencia Kelly (10) also scored in double figures... Jackie Barton pulled down seven rebounds... Challis Pascucci led all players with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunderbirds... Southern Utah outscored Western Illinois 34-22 in the paint and forced 21 turnovers, which it converted into 23 points.

PREVIOUSLY VS. UMKC: The Leathernecks led by eight points (12-4) early in the contest, but UMKC stormed back to take a 29-21 halftime lead... neither team shot better than 30 percent from the floor... the Kangaroos shot 29.6 percent (16-for-54) while the Leathernecks shot 29.0 percent (18-for-62)... UMKC converted 89.5 percent (17-for-19) of its free throw... Webb was the only player in double figures for Western Illinois as she scored 11 points...Eilise O'Connor led the Kangaroos with 16 points while Kim Nezianya ripped down a game-high 10 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST ORU: Western Illinois lost in heartbreaking fashion as Jaci Bigham's buzzer-beater lifted the Golden Eagles to a 68-66 win when the teams met in Macomb on Dec. 2... four Oral Roberts players scored in double-digits led by Bigham's 17... the Leathernecks also had four players in double figures led by Kelly's 16... Western led 32-24 at the half before the Golden Eagles outscored the Leathernecks 44-34 in the second half... Jackie Rieger scored eight of her 15 point from the free throw line.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Oral Roberts enters the weekend after a 101-66 win over Centenary last Saturday... the win snapped a two-game skid for the Golden Eagles who had previously lost road games at Southern Utah and at UMKC... Oral Roberts has clinched The Summit League Regular Season Title for the second-straight season... the Golden Eagles began conference play with a perfect 13-0 record before falling to Southern Utah...Kevi Luper leads the league and ranks second in the nation with 23.9 ppg... she also leads the nation with 3.8 steals per game... Luper has a chance to become the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring and steals since the NCAA started keeping track of steals in 1988... Oral Roberts suffered a significant loss when Jaci Bigham's season ended early due to a torn ACL she suffered against Southern Utah... Bigham was averaging 13.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST CENTENARY: Western Illinois led by just two points (31-29) at halftime before pulling away with 37 second-half points... the Leathernecks won by a final score of 68-55... Sadie Webb paced Western with 15 points in the contest while Kelly (13) and Michele Salvatori (11) got over the 10-point mark... the Leathernecks won the battle on the boards by a count of 43-28 and forced 28 Centenary turnovers... the Ladies were led by Ashley Jackson's game-high 17 points.

SCOUTING THE LADIES: Centenary enters the weekend as the only winless team in Division I Women's Basketball... the Ladies have not won a game since recording a 67-57 win over IUPUI on Feb. 15, 2010... Centenary is completing the transition to Division III and will leave The Summit League next season... Jackson leads the Ladies with 12.3 ppg while Ne-Ne Cook (11.1) and Anne Farrell (10.0) also average in double figures... Centenary is being outscored by an average of 32 points per game.

REMATCH IN SIOUX FALLS: Saturday's game against Oral Roberts will be the second of three meetings between the Leathernecks and Golden Eagles this season... the two squads will meet again in the quarterfinals of The Summit League Tournament a week from Saturday... the Golden Eagles enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed while the Leathernecks are locked in as the No. 8 seed... all other seeds are still up for grabs entering the last weekend of conference play... Western Illinois knocked of No. 2 seed Oakland last season before falling to South Dakota State in the semifinals... the Leathernecks have not made an NCAA postseason appearance since 1995.

LEATHERNECKS PICKED SEVENTH IN SUMMIT LEAGUE: Western Illinois was picked seventh in the 2010-11 Summit League preseason poll... the Leathernecks return six players from last year's squad... Western tied Southern Utah for seventh place with 162 points in the poll... Oral Roberts was picked first with 438 points and 26 first place votes... South Dakota State was selected second with 393 points and four first place votes... Oakland (336 points), IPFW (285) and North Dakota State (274) rounded out the top five... UMKC was picked sixth with 253 votes... IUPUI and Centenary were selected ninth and tenth, respectively.

CRANE NEARS MILESTONE: Western Illinois head coach Leslie Crane recorded her 191st victory as Leatherneck head coach with the Jan. 29 win over IUPUI... she has now won 308 games during her coaching career... Crane needs just 9 more wins to hit the 200-win mark at Western Illinois... she entered the season as the winningest coach in program history.

SENIOR NIGHT: Three Leathernecks played their final home game against UMKC on Monday night... Jackie Barton, Anne Borgertpoepping and Erica Lewis are this year's departing seniors... entering the weekend, the three have combined to appear in 189 games while making 101 starts... they have also combined to lead the team in scoring on 17 occasions and in rebounding on 25 occasions.

WEBB POURS IT ON: After an off-game against South Dakota State, Sadie Webb rebounded to put up 21 points at North Dakota State on Feb. 14... she has now recorded five games with 20 or more points... she has been in double-digits in 17 games this season... Webb currently ranks eighth in scoring against league opponents (15.2 ppg).

POSTSEASON TICKET PUNCHED: Western Illinois has punched its ticket to the postseason for the 18th season in a row... the last time the Leathernecks failed to qualify for the conference tournament was during the 1992-93 season when The Summit League was the Mid-Continent Conference... Western's last appearance in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament came during the 1994-95 season... the team also made appearances in the Women's NIT during the 2002-03 and 2005-06 seasons.

BARTON AT THE LINE: Jackie Barton has been outstanding at the free throw line this season... she is shooting 96.2 percent (25-for-26) from the charity stripe... Barton would rank third in the nation in free-throw percentage of she met the NCAA minimum to be among the national leaders (2.5 FT per game)... last season, Barton shot just 68.3 percent (28-for-41) from the line.

NEW LOOK SUMMIT LEAGUE COMING: The 2010-11 look of the Summit League basketball standings will soon be changing... This season marks the finale for Centenary in the league... Southern Utah announced it is leaving for the Big Sky Conference in July 2012... In return, the University of South Dakota will officially join the Summit League next academic year in all sports.

UP NEXT: Western Illinois will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a quarterfinal contest against Oral Roberts at The Summit League Tournament at noon on Saturday, March 5... the Leathernecks defeated No. 2 seeded Oakland in the quarterfinals last season before falling to eventual champion South Dakota State in the semifinals.