MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois women's basketball looks to rebound from a dramatic one-point loss to South Dakota State when North Dakota State visits Western Hall for a 4:30 p.m. contest on Saturday (Jan. 18).

The Leathernecks (9-8, 1-1 Summit) aims to move above .500 in conference play, while the Bison (3-14, 0-3) are hoping to snap their 10-game skid.

Saturday is also Kids' Day, so all kids can get into the game for free by bringing the attached coupon.

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LAST TIME OUT: After a back-and-forth second half, South Dakota State hit a go-ahead layup with 4.0 seconds left on the clock, which proved to be the game-winner as Western Illinois fell, 67-66... A deep 3-point attempt from Michelle Maher at the buzzer banked off the backboard and bounced out... With the Jackrabbits leading by one, Rebecca Henricson beat the shot clock to sink a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to give Western a 63-61 advantage with 3:47 left... Western Illinois forced four Jackrabbit misses in a row, but SDSU hit a pair of free throws to even the score at 63-63 at the 1:05 mark... Paige Harmon sank a free throw to put WIU ahead by one with 43 seconds remaining, but after being fouled again, SDSU hit two from the charity stripe with 29 seconds left... Maher was fouled on a drive to the rim, and she calmly sank both free throws to put the Leathernecks in front, 66-65, with 9.8 seconds remaining... Neither team called timeout, and SDSU drove the length of the court to score on a layup to give the Jackrabbits the eventual game-winner... Two-time conference 'Player of the Week' Ashley Luke led the Leathernecks with 21 points in just 24 minutes of game action, but she fouled out with 5:55 left in the game.

SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State enters the game with a 3-14 overall record, 0-3 in the Summit League... The Bison have dropped 10 straight games, most recently to conference foes Omaha (66-48), IUPUI (71-46) and Fort Wayne in double-overtime (98-89)... The Bison are 0-7 in true road games this season... Brooke LeMar leads the team in scoring (14.3 ppg) and assists (4.8 apg)... Marena Whittle is tops on the team in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and second in scoring (12.1 ppg)... Holly Johnson also averages double-figure scoring at 11.6 ppg... The lone nonconference opponent NDSU has in common with Western is Milwaukee; the Bison lost that contest, 76-64.

SERIES HISTORY: North Dakota State leads the all-time series, 8-5... Last year marked Western Illinois' first-ever season sweep, with the Leathernecks winning 85-83 in Fargo and 55-50 in Macomb... WIU has won four of the past six against the Bison... In the first contest last year, Rebecca Henricson dished out 11 assists as the Leathernecks held off a late Bison rally... In the second contest, Ashley Luke posted a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) as Western again stopped NDSU's late rally a bit short.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY (Jan. 18): Western Illinois is 2-2 on this date all-time... The Leathernecks have only played once on this date in the past decade... Western Illinois has won two straight games: a 63-47 victory over Centenary (2010) and an 82-35 thumping of Southern Utah (2003).

IN HER OWN WORLD: Ashley Luke is the only player in NCAA Division I averaging at least 19 points, 10.5 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 94 assists while committing just 25 turnovers so far in 2013-14, the best ratio in the nation... She has committed one turnover or less in eight of the first 17 games this season, never committing more than three turnovers... She is yet to have more turnovers than assists in a game... As a team, Western Illinois has finished with more assists than turnovers in 10 of the past 16 contests... The Leathernecks have the best turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio in the Summit League.

70 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: In head coach JD Gravina's tenure, the Leathernecks are 26-7 when scoring at least 70 points, including 9-4 this season... When scoring 69-or-fewer points, Western is 9-36 over the same timespan.

SPREAD THE WEALTH: All nine Leathernecks who have seen game action have had a game scoring at least seven points, while eight have had at least one game scoring 16 points or more... Six different Leathernecks have led the team in scoring on a given night... Individual Leathernecks have scored in double figures 59 times already this year.

WHAT DOES MAHER DO?: When Michelle Maher scores at least 13 points this season, the Leathernecks have a 7-2 record... When she puts up 12 points or less, WIU is 2-6... Though her shooting percentages are down slightly this year compared to her freshman campaign, she has improved her averages in assists (2.4 to 4.9), steals (1.0 to 2.0) and rebounding (3.4 to 3.8).

MILESTONE WATCH: Michelle Maher scored her 500th career point early in the first half versus South Dakota State, and tallied her 100th career assist in the win over SLU... Ashley Luke scored her 600th career point in Western's win over St. Francis and is three rebounds away from 400... Rebecca Henricson became the seventh Leatherneck to reach 300 assists in a career by tallying six at UMKC, and became the ninth player in program history to notch 150 steals in her career with two at Missouri... She scored the 400th point of her career against Culver-Stockton and is 13 rebounds away from 300... Tori Niemann surpassed the 200-point mark when she scored 31 versus St. Francis and grabbed her 100th board against SDSU... Paige Harmon scored her 100th career point at UMKC and Marley Hall recorded her 100th career point against SIU-Edwardsville, while Sophie Reichelt and Liz Skotowski each scored the 100th points of their careers against Culver-Stockton.

SUMMIT'S ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS: As of Jan. 13, Rebecca Henricson is the Summit League's active career leader in assists with 330, 75 ahead of the next-closest (IPFW's Amanda Hyde - 255)... As just a sophomore, Ashley Luke already ranks in the top five in both rebounding (third - 394) and scoring (fourth - 635) in her career.

HIGH ATTENDANCE: For the game against South Dakota State (Jan. 16), 1,085 fans packed Western hall, sixth-most in program history and the second-highest attendance of the past nine years... Two of the top six attendances in program history have occurred under coach JD Gravina in the last two years: Saturday versus SDSU and March 2, 2013 versus Oakland (1,156 fans, second-most all-time).

IN THE RPI: Western Illinois' official weekly NCAA RPI ratings are below (347 NCAA Division I programs):
    • Preseason: 248
    • Week 1 (Jan. 6): 229
    • Week 2 (Jan. 13): 213

BEATING OTHER MID-MAJORS: In the nonconference portion of its schedule, Western Illinois defeated opponents from several different conferences, including the Atlantic-10, Conference USA, Horizon, Ohio Valley and the WAC... The Leathernecks' win over Saint Louis was the conference's only victory against an A-10 opponent... By defeating UAB, WIU also picked up the league's only win versus a C-USA team; the remainder of the league went 0-4.

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS: Western Illinois women's basketball posted eight nonconference wins for just the fourth time in program history... The achievement is also the first time Western has reached that mark since the 2005-06 season... That year, WIU went 23-7 and finished 13-3 in conference action.

RECORDS ARE FALLING: Against Culver-Stockton (Jan. 2), Western Illinois shattered a 35-year-old program record for assists (34), dishing out 39... That total also broke the Summit League record of 37 set by Youngstown State in 1998... The mark of 39 assists also ranks tied for sixth in NCAA Division I history, and is the most in more than a decade, bettering UNC's previous 2013-14 season high of 34... After recording 37 assists against St. Francis, Western Illinois holds the two highest single-game assist totals in NCAA Division I in the past 10 years... The total of 37 is tied for 12th-most in NCAA history... By tallying 76 assists over two games, Western Illinois set an unofficial NCAA record for assists in back-to-back games...The Leathernecks have also broken the program single game 3-pointer record twice this season... Before this year, the single game record was 15, set twice in 2012... This season, Western sank 16 against William Woods, before bettering that mark again with 17 against St. Francis.

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.

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.

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 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.

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'.

RANKINGS IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE AND THE NATION:

 WESTERN ILLINOIS PLAYER RANKINGS

WESTERN ILLINOIS TEAM RANKINGS