MACOMB, Ill. - After a week-and-a-half layoff, Western Illinois women's basketball plays the eighth game of its 10-game Division I nonconference stretch on Thursday (Dec. 9), welcoming in-state rival SIU-Edwardsville to Macomb at 7 p.m.
The Leathernecks (5-5) lead the Cougars (2-9) 7-5 in the all-time series, but SIU-E has taken three straight games in the series, including a 10-point win last year.
Additionally, fans who wear a jersey into the game will receive a free general admission ticket.
Live Stats
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LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois grabbed an early lead and never looked back, defeating Southeast Missouri 79-58 on Dec. 7... Ashley Luke matched her career high of 29 points, setting new career highs with 15 rebounds and 17 free throws... She was a perfect 17-of-17 at the charity stripe, breaking the program record for free throw percentage in a game, previously set in 1983 of 12-of-12... Luke's 17 free throws also rank second in program history, one behind the record of 18 in a game... Three other Leathernecks scored in double figures: Tori Niemann (14 points), Michelle Maher (14) and Marley Hall (13)... Niemann also added seven rebounds, two assists and a block, while Maher totaled six boards, four assists and a pair of steals... Luke also blocked two shots and swiped three steals... Western shot a season-best 24-of-27 (88.9 percent) from the charity stripe... The Leathernecks dominated in points in the paint (40-16) and points off turnovers (27-11)... The Redhawks were never able to cut Western's second-half lead to single digits.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS: SIU-Edwardsville enters the game with a 2-9 overall record, dropping seven of the past eight games... Most recently, SIU-E fell at Drake on Dec. 17 by an 87-71 score... The Cougars' most recent win came on Dec. 7 at Air Force, 76-55... Their game at Western marks their seventh straight away from Edwardsville, as SIU-E has played four road games and two neutral-site games since its last home game on Nov. 26... The Cougars have twice played Western's Summit League foe Fort Wayne, falling by more than 15 points each time... They also took on former Summit League opponent UMKC, winning 79-76... SIU-Edwardsville is led by Tierny Austin; she is tops on the squad in scoring (12.6), rebounding (6.9) and steals (21).
SERIES HISTORY: The Leathernecks lead the all-time series, 7-5... Since winning six of the first seven games in the series, Western Illinois has dropped four of the last five to SIU-Edwardsville... The Cougars have won three straight in the series, with Western's last win coming in 1983... SIU-E pulled out the 68-58 victory in Edwardsville last season... Michelle Maher scored a game-high 22 points in just her fourth collegiate game last year.
THIS DATE IN HISTORY (Dec. 19): Western Illinois is 4-3 on this date all-time, winning four of the past five contests... The most recent game on this date was an 83-35 win over Judson University in 2010-11... Western Illinois has also defeated Butler, Western Kentucky and Quincy on this date... In 1993 Western Illinois took on the defending national champions, Texas Tech, falling 80-61 despite six 3-pointers from Jill Higgs-Lohnes.
'NECKS IN THE NATION (as of Dec. 16): Ashley Luke is tied for fourth in the nation with seven double-doubles, trailing only Alyssa Thomas of Maryland (10), Jessica Kuster of Rice (8) and Artemis Spanou of Robert Morris (8)... Rebecca Henricson is 11th in the nation with a 3.62 assist-to-turnover ratio... Luke is also 21st in the nation in rebounding, pulling down 11.1 boards per game; of the 20 above her, 15 are her height or taller... Luke is also 31st in steals per game (2.8), 51st in points per game (19.5) and 78th in field goal percentage (52.0 percent)... As a team, the Leathernecks rank in the top 60 in: scoring (35th - 79.4 ppg), assists per game (31st - 17.6), assist/turnover ratio (46th - 1.09), and fewest fouls committed per game (42nd - 16.7).
IN HER OWN WORLD: Ashley Luke is the only player in the country averaging at least 19 points, 11 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.
PROTECTING THE ROCK: After finishing 15th in the nation with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio last year, Rebecca Henricson has tallied 47 assists while committing just 13 turnovers so far in 2013-14, the best ratio in the Summit League... She has committed one turnover or less in six of the first 10 games this season, committing more than two turnovers just once...As a team, Western Illinois has finished with more assists than turnovers in five of the past nine contests... The Leathernecks have the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Summit League.
ATOP THE SUMMIT: Ashley Luke leads the conference with seven double-doubles and seven 10-rebound games... She also leads the league with 11.1 boards and 2.8 steals per game... Rebecca Henricson is first in assist/turnover ratio (3.6) and third in assists per game (4.7)... The Leathernecks have four of the conference's top eight in steals: Luke is first (2.8), Tori Niemann and Henricson are tied for fifth (1.9), and Michelle Maher is eighth (1.6)... Luke, Maher and Niemann are all in the conference's top 10 in scoring; Luke is second (19.5 ppg), Niemann is seventh (13.2 ppg) and Maher is 10th (12.1 ppg)... As a team, Western Illinois leads the league in scoring, averaging 79.4 points per game... The Leathernecks also lead the league in assists per game (17.6), steals per game (9.1), and fewest fouls committed per game (16.7)
70 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: In head coach JD Gravina's tenure, the Leathernecks are 22-6 when scoring at least 70 points, including 5-3 this season... When scoring 69-or-fewer points, Western is 9-34 over the same timespan.
SPREAD THE WEALTH: Eight of the nine Leathernecks who have seen game action have had a game scoring at least nine points, while seven have had at least one game scoring 17 points or more... Six different Leathernecks have led the team in scoring on a given night... Individual Leathernecks have scored in double figures 36 times already this year.
WHAT DOES MAHER DO?: When Michelle Maher scores at least 13 points this season, the Leathernecks have a 5-0 record... When she puts up 12 points or less, WIU is 0-5.
MILESTONE WATCH: Ashley Luke scored her 500th career point with a free throw against Southeast Missouri State (Dec. 7), and also pulled down her 300th career board in November... Rebecca Henricson is 11 assists away from becoming the seventh Leatherneck to reach 300 assists in a career, and seven steals away from being the ninth player to reach 150... Michelle Maher scored her 400th career point with a basket versus SEMO (Dec. 7), and tallied her 100th career assist in the win over SLU... Tori Niemann also reached a century mark in that contest, scoring her 100th career point against the Billikens... Paige Harmon is 13 points away from scoring 100 in her career, Sophie Reichelt is 11 points away from 100 in her career, while Marley Hall is a lone point away from recording her 100th point as a Leatherneck.
STRONG RETURNERS: The Leathernecks welcome back eight returners from the 2012-13 roster... Rebecca Henricson is the lone senior and serves as the team captain, also serving as the floor general as the point guard... Ashley Luke is the reigning Summit League 'Newcomer of the Year' and was the lone All-Summit League honoree a year ago... Michelle Maher is back for her sophomore campaign after averaging in double-figure scoring her freshman season... Liz Skotowski, Paige Harmon and Sophie Reichelt all enter their sophomore seasons after shooting 38 percent or better from beyond the arc off the bench their first season... A pair of transfers will see their first action in Purple & Gold after sitting out games last season to meet transfer requirements: Marley Hall, a junior forward, and Tori Niemann, a junior guard.
FRESH FACES: In addition to the eight returners, the Leathernecks also welcome four newcomers in 2013-14... Mallory Boyle was an ESPN 3-star recruit and is expected to make an impact as a true-freshman... Michelle Farrow also enters from the high school ranks after picking up All-Area accolades during her prep career... Western also brings in two more transfers from four-year programs who will have to redshirt the upcoming season to meet transfer requirements: junior Faith Lois, a 5-11 guard who spent her first two seasons at Nevada-Reno, and Ciara Marlow, a 5-7 sophomore guard who averaged double-figure scoring in her rookie season at Division III Aurora University.
PRESEASON RECOGNITION: A trio of Leathernecks received preseason recognition... Ashley Luke was projected as 'First Team All-Summit League' through voting of conference coaches, media members, and sports information directors, as well as by College Sports Madness... Luke was the only underclassman to be named to either the First or Second Team by the conference... Additionally, Michelle Maher was tabbed as 'Second Team All-Summit League' and Mallory Boyle was projected to be 'Summit League Freshman of the Year' by College Sports Madness... The conference preseason poll projected Western Illinois to finish sixth in the Summit League in 2013-14... The Leathernecks received 146 points in the poll, just behind Denver (169) and Fort Wayne (179)... South Dakota State received the majority of the first-place votes (27 out of 30) in the poll and led the pack with 319 points.
HISTORY BEFORE THE TIP: For the first time in program history, the women's basketball team will be playing 15 home games inside Western Hall in 2013-14... Last year was the first time the team had ever played 14 contests in Macomb in one season... Of the eight nonconference games at home, five are Division I programs: Florida Atlantic (Nov. 20), Loyola-Chicago (coached by WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes - Nov. 23), Saint Louis (Nov. 30), Southeast Missouri State (Dec. 7) and SIU-Edwardsville (Dec. 19)... Playing at home under should bode well for the Leathernecks; last year, Western finished 10-4 inside Western Hall compared to 4-12 on the road and at neutral sites.
WESTERN SIGNS ONE FOR 2014-15: On the first day of the 2013-14 early signing period (Nov. 13), Emily Clemens signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Western Illinois women's basketball family for the 2014-15 season... Clemens, a 5-4 point guard from Muscatine H.S. (Iowa), is a two-time All-State honoree... She averaged 12.3 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals her junior year after totaling 12.5 points, 7.0 assists, 3.7 steals and 2.9 rebounds per contest her sophomore season... She has also shot better than 41 percent from beyond the arc each of her past two seasons.
GRAVINA SETS ANOTHER STANDARD: Head coach JD Gravina holds a 26-35 record through his first two years at the helm of Leatherneck Basketball. No other coach in the program's NCAA Division I history has won more games in their first two years of coaching than Gravina... With the last 2012-13 win over Oakland, Gravina took sole possession of first moving past Leslie Crane (25)... Gravina joins Bea Yeager (first two years team moved to Division I level) as the only coaches with at least 10 wins in each of the first two seasons, and Gravina is the only coach to win at least 12 games each season.
ATTENDANCE ON THE RISE: The Leathernecks' 2012-13 regular season finale against Oakland brought 1,156 fans to Western Hall - the second highest attendance in program history. The total surpassed the previous season-high of 848 against South Dakota State ('Think Pink' event)... The record is 1,384 against IUPUI in March 2004... That was the third time last year Western drew at least 800 fans for a game... The 644 average home attendance in 14 games is the largest average since the 2006-07 season (660 avg./12 games)... The 1,156 attendance for Oakland was the last 1,000+ attendance since February 27, 2006 (1,001 vs. Kansas City).
3-POINT SHOOTING RECORDS SET: In the team's 98-55 win over William Woods, Western Illinois broke the program record for 3-pointers in a game, connecting on 16 of them... Against Florida Atlantic (Nov. 20), Liz Skotowski hit six 3-pointers, falling one short of the program record, but marking just the 10th time a Leatherneck has accomplished the feat... Seven different Leathernecks sank a triple en route to the record of 16... For the second season in a row last year, Gravina's program broke the team's single-season 3-pointer record... The Leathernecks finished 2012-13 with 235 treys, breaking the record set in the previous season by 20... Saule Kontautaite broke her own season record of 67 3-pointers by sinking 68 in 2012-13... Michelle Maher connected from long distance 60 times during her freshman campaign, fourth-most all-time.
THREE STRAIGHT: Ashley Luke was named the 2012-13 Summit League 'Newcomer of the Year', marking the third straight season a Leatherneck received the honor... Saule Kontautaite was the 2011-12 recipient, while Sadie Webb earned the recognition in 2010-11... Luke earned the honor by averaging 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in her redshirt-freshman season... She was also named 'Second Team All-Summit League' and to the 'Summit League All-Newcomer Team'.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: Western Illinois women's basketball finished the 2012-13 season ranked 15th nationally in 3-point field goals per game, connecting on an average of 7.8... Current senior Rebecca Henricson ended her junior year ranked 15th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, racking up 2.2 assists per turnover... With 15.4 assists per contest, the team ranked 36th nationally...The Leathernecks also finished in the top 65 in fewest fouls committed per game (51st - 14.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (53rd - 0.95), and ranked 63rd in 3-point field-goal percentage (63rd - 33.1 percent).
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