MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois scored the first 16 points of the game and never looked back during its 79-13 exhibition win over MacMurray College on Wednesday night (Nov. 7). The women had four players in double-figures during their final tune-up before the regular season.
It was a balanced scoring effort again as 11 of the 13 players scored points. In fact six different Leathernecks scored a basket during the opening 16-0 run that spanned to the 9:45 mark when Rachel Yeast put the Highlanders on the board.
Rachel Evans responded with a basket that started an 18-0 run until 90 seconds left in the half. The defense held the Highlanders to just one field goal and a free throw over the first 20 minutes, leading 41-3 at the break.
Evans opened the second half scoring consecutive baskets, which began a 17-4 run. After those two baskets by the junior forward, Michelle Maher and Michele Salvatori accounted for the next 11 points. Vicki Bradshaw sank two free throws then Sierra Sherrod hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 59-11 at the 13:36 mark, but Western's defense held MacMurray to one lay-up the remainder of the game.
"With exhibition games you can have a lot of different philosophies. We had a lot of question marks when it was scheduling time knowing that we'd probably be playing a lot of young people. We lost three good seniors, so we wanted to try to find some games where we could build some confidence. MacMurray had a tough night, they were outmatched physically," said head coach JD Gravina.
Western cooled off shooting during the second half, but still finished with an impressive 45.7 percent for the game while holding MacMurray to 10 percent (4-of-40) overall and 0-for-14 from beyond the arc.
In her first action as a Leatherneck, Sophie Reichelt led all scorers with 14 points. She was 5-of-9 from the field, 2-of-5 beyond the arc and drained both free throw attempts.
Evans and Charnelle Reed added 12 points apiece. Maher contributed 10 points and shared the rebounding lead with Jackie Rieger and Paige Harmon clearing away six apiece.
Reed recorded six of the team's 26 steals. Salvatori dished out five assists as Western finished with 24 assists to just 11 turnovers. The defense forced 37 MacMurray turnovers on the night, and the Western bench accounted for 44 of the 79 points.
"I thought our defense was much improved over the Monmouth game. We were a lot more aggressive offensively. I thought that every single person came off the bench and played really hard. In general, I think we built some confidence that is going to be important when we play Iowa State, Mizzou, Bradley, Eastern Illinois, and teams like that," said Gravina.
The regular season opens this Sunday (Nov. 11) for the Leathernecks at Iowa State. Tipoff at Hilton Coliseum is scheduled for 1 p.m. Every game can be heard live the Leatherneck Sports Network and online at GoLeathernecks.com.
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