MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois women's basketball (10-13, 6-6) is on a roll, a roll that has them at .500 in Summit League play at 6-6 with a chance to improve on that mark on Saturday at Oral Roberts (15-9, 9-4) at 2:05 p.m. The Golden Eagles are currently losers of two of its last three games including a 70-51 defeat at South Dakota State on Monday.
A slow start on Monday night with IPFW in the building almost put the brakes on the Purple & Gold's mojo but a 52-point second half and a career performance from Brittany Demery (23 points) insured that the Leathernecks would stay hot as The Summit League Tournament approaches rapidly (March 3-6). Currently, the Leathernecks are tied for fourth, which is the highest Western has been in the standings since 2007-08. That season, Western finished 12-6 and tied for second in the league.
Saule Kontautaite followed her 26-point night on Saturday with 21. Sadie Webb collected 18 points. Western also traveled to the line on 34 occasions and knocked down 27 of those attempts.
The last time Western scored 80 or more points in consecutive wins over Division I programs was January of 2001.
The Match Up
Who: Western Illinois (10-13, 6-6) at Oral Roberts (15-9, 9-4)
When: Saturday, February 11 at 2:05 p.m.
Location: Tulsa, Okla.
Arena: Mabee Center (10,575)
Coverage
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
Live WIUS radio broadcast (Free)
Play-by-Play: Michael Broskowski Color Analyst: Ryne Thorson
Streaming • ORU ELive (Subscription)
Live Stats • ORUGoldenEagles.com (Free)
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Head Coach Jerry Finkbeiner (Southern Nazarene, 1980) is in his 16th season (268-206) with Oral Roberts and has his Golden Eagles currently in second place in The Summit League with a 9-4 mark in league action and a 15-9 record overall. After an out-of-character 72-48 loss at IUPUI, ORU won four in a row including a 102-62 thrashing of IPFW. However, the Golden Eagles have dropped two of its last three games. Most recently, South Dakota State beat ORU 70-51 in Brookings, S.D. Oral Roberts won the season's first meeting with Western Illinois 78-66 to take a 18-16 all-time series lead. The Leathernecks were leading at halftime, 40-39.
MASTODONS TO WATCH: On Saturday (Feb. 4), ORU's all-everything Kevi Luper broke the Summit League career scoring record with a 41-point performance. The previous high-mark was held by former ORU standout Krista Ragan with 2,105. Going into Saturday's game with Western, Luper has 2,129 points. on the season Luper is averaging 23.6 pointers per game has 95 steals while dishing out 2.1 assists per game. Luper was named Summit League Player of the Week on Feb. 7. Jordan Pyle is contributing 12.5 points per game and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game. Georgia Jones is averaging 4.7 assists per game (3rd in Summit League) and 8.9 points per game. As a team, ORU is scoring 74.1 points per game and allowing 67.6 while shooting 43 percent from the field.
WHAT IS A LEATHERNECK?: Western Illinois holds the distinction of being the only non-military institution to officially have its nickname derived from a branch of the military service. The school began use of the Marine Corps' official nickname, "The Fighting Leathernecks," in 1927 when then-athletic director and head baseball, basketball and football coach Ray "Rock" Hanson was granted permission by the U.S. Navy, based on his status as a Marine hero, to use the Marine's official seal, bulldog mascot and nickname.
STEP ONE: The JD Gravina era officially began with a win as Western Illinois defeated Hannibal-LaGrange 87-65 on 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.
WEBB LEADING THE WAY: No surprise that senior Sadie Webb leads the team in scoring (15.1/6th in Summit League). Six consecutive double-figure scoring performances to start the season were highlighted with a career-high 31 points against Northern Illinois. At NIU, 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. Webb returned to form against Nebraska Omaha with a 22-point performance while also pulling down nine rebounds. In the win over Southern Utah, Webb led four Leathernecks in double-digits with 20 points and went 11-for-14 from the line. Against ORU, Webb had 18 first-half points and finished with 21. Webb led the Leathernecks to 70-59 win at Nebraska Omaha with 24 points. In the 33-point win over Oakland, Webb drilled five three-pointers and finished with 19 points. The senior has reached double-digits in 69 percent (35/51) 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. She leads the team with 6.9 boards (7th in Summit League) per game including 57 offensive rebounds this season of her 158 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. Salvatori also was the key in the 14-point second half comeback at IUPUI on New Year's Eve as she turned in her third double-double with 17 points and 11 boards. Salvatori scored seven points in the final minute including a three-pointer to give the Leathernecks the lead with 44 seconds remaining. Valencia Kelly recorded her first career double-double at UMKC with 15 points and 12 rebounds including two late free throws to give Western the victory. Kelly recorded her second double-double in three games with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Nebraska Omaha.
$AULE: The Leathernecks received a boost from sharp shooter Saule Kontautaite against North Dakota State. The junior missed all of last season due to injury and seemed to regain some confidence during the first half on Dec 2. Kontautaite knocked down four first-half deep balls for 12 first-half points, helping Western to a 33-23 advantage. She collected a fifth and final three-pointer in the second half and finished with a career-high 17 points. Kontautaite was another key member of the comeback at IUPUI as she knocked down three key triples inside The Jungle. She set a career-high mark in scoring vs. Southern Utah with 19 points and matched her high-mark with five rebounds. At home against IUPUI, she started the comeback attempt with eight consecutive points for the Leathernecks. At Nebraska Omaha on Monday, Kontautaite drilled five triples in a game for the second time this season, which puts her in the record for the seventh most in a game. The sharpshooter from Lithuania topped that game with one of the better shooting-performances ever inside Western Hall. She hit six triples to tie her for third most ever in a game in program history and finished with a career-high 26 points. The Lithuanian sniper leads the team with 48 made three-pointers. Kontautaite is now tied for ninth all-time in the program's record book for three-pointers in a season. The record belongs to Doshia Woods with 62 in 2000-01. Her 142 attempts is eighth all time, with that record belonging to Deirdre LaFrance with 196 in 1995-96.
LIVE & DIE: The Purple & Gold need to be able to knock down the shots from behind the arc in order to be successful as Summit League play continues. In the emotional victory at IUPUI, Western was 9-for-19 from three including a 6-for-8 performance in the second half. Michele Salvatori and Saule Kontautaite both collected three triples while Valencia Kelly, Rebecca Henricson and Sadie Webb all knocked down one apiece. Western has made 161 triples this season, which is an all-time high in program history. The most in a season was 155 in 2007-08. The previous high for attempts was 457 in 2008-09, the Leathernecks have 509 attempts this season. The best percentage was 40 percent in 1990-91, Western is shooting 32 percent from behind the arc. Western hit 15 triples against Oakland, the most ever in a game in program history.
CONSECUTIVE GEMS: With the 86-53 win over Oakland and the 81-75 victory over IPFW, Western strung back-to-back wins over Division I programs while scoring 80 or more points for the first time in over 10 years (January of 2001). It is also the first three-game winning streak since since 2009.
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.
BITS & PIECES: Western Illinois collected a 20-2 advantage in second chance points against UNO on Dec. 20. That game featured 14 lead changes and six ties. It was the first time the Leathernecks dropped a game after leading at halftime and were tied with just five minutes remaining. The Mavericks used 25 bench points and 26 points in the paint to power its 40-point second half to overcome a halftime disadvantage. The Leathernecks made only four trips to the free-throw line against William Woods (Dec. 27), making half of those. At IUPUI, the Leathernecks used 12 second-half Jaguar turnovers to collect 20 points to steal the New Year's Eve victory. At IPFW, the Mastodons lead by as many as 21 and the closest the Leathernecks would get in the second half would be five at 36-31 with 16:44 left in the game. Most recently, Western could not seem to get closer than four points at Oakland. The Leathernecks cut the OU advantage to just four on four different occasions including the final, 75-71. In the home victory over SUU, Western hit 34-of-44 free throws while Valencia Kelly knocked down 12 (tied for eighth most all-time). Western is shooting 74 percent from behind the line, which would be third all-time. The best free throw clip was 76 percent in 2007-08. The win over UMKC was ranked by Omni Rankings the best upset by a Summit League team this season and ranks seventh nationally.
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 would become the Southland Conference's newest member beginning in July of 2012.
UP NEXT: After going toe-to-toe with soon-to-be former Summit League member, ORU, the Leathernecks will face another departing league member, Southern Utah, on Monday at 8 p.m. (CT) in Cedar City, Utah. Western defeated the Thunderbirds 82-70 to take 21-11 all-time series lead.
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