Women's Basketball Saturday, February 25, 2012

Leathernecks Travel to Fargo

MACOMB, Ill. - After catching fire in late January and early February, Western Illinois women's basketball (11-16, 7-9) hit a late season skid but will attempt to right the ship with a trip to North Dakota State (9-19, 6-10) for a Saturday night contest.

In the home finale on Monday night, a streaking South Dakota (19-7, 10-6) program used a strong post presence (nine blocks) to capture its ninth win in its last 10 games, 62-47.

Amber Hegge finished with 26 points to lead all scorers and pulled down nine rebounds while Jodie Boss collected a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Sadie Webb led the Leathernecks with 11 points while Brittany Demery chipped in 10. Valencia Kelly, Webb, Demery and Tricia Coates all participated in their last game inside Western Hall.

The Match Up
Who: North Dakota State (9-19, 6-10) at Western Illinois (11-16, 7-9)
When: Saturday, February 25 at 5 p.m.
Location: Fargo, N.D.
Arena: Bison Sports Arena (5,830)
Coverage
Radio • WIUS (88.3 FM, Macomb) Flagship station
Live WIUS radio broadcast (Free)
Play-by-Play: Michael Broskowski Color Analyst: Ryne Thorson
Streaming • NDSU All-Access (Subscription)
Live Stats • GoBison.com (Free)

SCOUTING THE BISON: Head Coach Carolyn DeHoff (Arizona State, 1991) is in her fourth season (54-61) leading the Bison program. North Dakota State has lost three in a row after winning two of three. The Bison nearly clipped the Kangaroos at UMKC, 68-64. On Saturday, South Dakota State got the best of the Bison, 88-43, as North Dakota State only scored 16 points in the second half. In that game, Jamie Van Kirk led the Bison with 12 points while four Jackrabbits finished in double-figures. This season's first meeting went to Western 68-65 in Macomb. Saule Kontautaite led the Leathernecks with 17 points and Michele Salvatori hit clutch free throw at the end to seal the victory. North Dakota State leads the all-time series 7-3.

BISON TO WATCH: Similar to South Dakota, the bison rely on its front line for offensive and defensive production. Both Janae Burich and Abby Plucker lead the team with 10.1 points per game. Burich has collected 79 blocks this season and is second on the team with 7.4 rebounds per game. Plucker leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game while Hannah Linz leads the team with 72 assists (2.6 per game). Six different Bison have led the team in scoring this season. North Dakota State suffered a seven-game losing streak from Nov. 30 to Dec. 20. The Bison followed by winning five of six.

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 (14.9/6th 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 (38/55) of her games as a Leatherneck. Webb is averaging 13.4 points per game during her Leatherneck career, which is fifth all-time. Webb has 402 points this season, she is just the 11th player since 1981-82 to score 400 points in a season.

SENIOR CLASS: This year's senior class made up of Sadie Webb, Valencia Kelly, Brittany Demery and Tricia Coates have combined to play 204 games (140 starts), score 1,697 points, grab 707 rebounds, dish out 257 assists. The four have also combined for 76 games scoring in double-figures, 39 games as the Leatherneck top scorer, 27 games as the top rebounder, 10 20-point games, seven 10 plus rebound performances, six career double-doubles and one 30-point game. These four student-athletes were honored during the UMKC game inside Western Hall on Feb. 18.

$AULE: The Leathernecks have received a boost from sharp shooter Saule Kontautaite all season especially 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 in the win over the Bison. 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 “Lithuanian Sniper” 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. “Special K” leads the team with 60 made three-pointers, which is second 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 179 attempts is third 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 189 triples this season (most in Summit League), which is an all-time high in program history. The most in a season was 155 in 2007-08 and the previous high for attempts was 457 in 2008-09, the Leathernecks have 597 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 and have three games of 10 or more triples.

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 student-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 the line, which is 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: Following the North Dakota State contest, the women will head south to Brookings, S.D. for a 7 p.m. with league-leading South Dakota State to conclude the regular season. The Jackrabbits took the first meeting with the Leathernecks and have won 12 of its last 14 games.