BROOKINGS, S.D. - Western Illinois women's basketball (11-18, 7-11)
wrapped up the regular season on Monday night inside Frost Arena and South
Dakota State (21-8, 16-2) showed why it will have the No. 1 seed heading into
next weekend's conference tournament with a 101-61 victory over the
Leathernecks.
The Leathernecks are tied with Oakland for
the sixth or seventh seed for the Summit League Tournament. The seeding will be
decided officially tomorrow morning when RPIRatings.com
releases current RPI ratings, which is the fourth tie-breaking procedure. In
the sites latest release Oakland edges Western in RPI 233 to 254. IUPUI is the
fifth seed due to their split with Oral Roberts.
A seven seed will match Western up with ORU on Saturday, March 3 at 2:30
p.m while a six seed will pit the Leathernecks against UMKC on Sunday, March 4
at 2:30 p.m.
SDSU
controlled the paint with a 54-12 advantage in points-in-the-paint and a 43-28
advantage in the rebounding battle while Western allowed an opponent to eclipse
the century mark for the first time this season.
A
triple from Brittany Demery gave Western Illinois a 7-6 lead at
the 18-minute mark. Sadie Webb converted a three-point play at the
15:51 to bring the Leathernecks within two at 14-12.
Valencia Kelly stole the ball and sprinted her way to
a fastbreak layup to tie the game at 14-14 with just over 14 minutes on the
clock.
The
pace slowed and the 'Jacks held onto a 22-17 advantage with 9:30 remaining
before halftime. Kelly was providing all the offense for Western and a running
jumper in the lane cut the home team's lead to three at 24-21 with 7:19 on the
clock.
The
Jackrabbits stretched its lead to 37-25 with just under four minutes left to play
in the first frame on a Jill Young three-pointer. SDSU continued to control the
final minutes of the first half and at the break held a 46-33 lead powered by
11 points from Jennie Sunnarborg and a 25-12 rebounding advantage resulting in
14 second-chance points for the 'Jacks.
Kelly
paced Western with 12 points while Webb chipped in 8 points.
SDSU
began the second half on an 8-2 run and led 54-35 at the 18:18 mark. Turnovers
and the Jackrabbits' transition attack turned the game into a rout and two
Young free throws extended SDSU's lead to 58-37 at the 16:46 mark.
The
Leathernecks cold-shooting and inability to keep SDSU out of the paint led to a
68-39 advantage. Webb's jumper at the 13:03 mark was the first Leatherneck
basket since the 18:09 mark of the second half.
The
game spun out of control as SDSU pulled out to a 94-54 lead with 3:45 left in
the contest. The Jackrabbits would go on to win by a final score of 101-61.
Kelly
and Webb both finished with 14 points to lead Western while Salvatori pulled
down seven boards. The two Jackrabbits seniors went out in style as Sunnarborg
led all scorers with 23 points while Young collected 18 points. Ashley Eide
finished with 15 and Mariah Clarin poured in 10 points. As a team, SDSU dished
out 26 assists on its 39 made field goals.
Stay
tuned to GoLeathernecks.com for Summit League Championship coverage as Western
Illinois returns to the league tournament.
#WIUAthletics
