Women's Basketball Defeats Southeast Missouri, 79-62

Ashley Luke (24 points) leads Leathernecks past Redhawks

Box Score CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Ashley Luke dropped a game-high 24 points and Western Illinois never trailed Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 3) as the Leathernecks knocked off Southeast Missouri, 79-62, in a nonconference tilt. The outcome moves the Leathernecks to 4-3 overall with the victory while dropping the Redhawks to 2-5 on the season.

"I thought we came out hot and that was important for us after the North Dakota game where struggled out of the gate," said head coach JD Gravina. "We talked about getting good shots today, and Ashley got off to a great start. Our team defense was really good at the start and throughout most of the game, which was really nice to see from our team moving forward."

Tori Niemann got the scoring started for Western Illinois with a layup 30 seconds into the game, while Southeast Missouri tied the game briefly at 2-all on a layup from Conner King. A jumper from Luke followed and Western Illinois never looked back, as Leathernecks would lead for the final 36:57 of the game.

Western Illinois opened the game on a 13-2 run, with six points coming from Luke. At the under-12 media timeout, the Leathernecks held a 20-10 advantage, with Luke singlehandedly matching the scoring output of the Redhawks. Jenna Mueller gave the Purple and Gold their biggest lead of the half, as her jumper extended the lead to 24-10. Mueller had her highest scoring output as a Leatherneck, as she finished the game with eight points and four rebounds.

Michelle Farrow, coming off a career-day against North Dakota, picked up where she left off as she knocked down a three-pointer to give Western a 41-28 lead heading into halftime. Farrow scored eight of her 11 points in the first half, and finished the game 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw Western maintain its lead, and eventually push the lead to 18 points after Sophie Reichelt knocked down a jumper. However, SEMO would suddenly make it a close game, as it used an 11-0 run over 2:15 to cut the Leatherneck lead to 63-56 with just over six minutes remaining. Luke ended the scoring run with a layup and Liz Skotowski came off the bench to put the game away with back-to-back three-pointers to push the margin back up to 15.

"It is so important to get key rebounds during those situations and we could not execute," added Gravina. "We gave up the offensive rebound off the missed free throw, and then we came back down and took a bad shot. We didn't get back on transition and they hit two good pull-up, off the dribble, jumpers. It was good that the run happened though because our veterans stepped up and made some plays when SEMO cut the lead to seven and we were able to get the lead back to 15 in a hurry."

Luke's 24 points, along with six rebounds, led the way for the Purple and Gold, while Farrow (11 points) and Maher (10 points) each scored in double-figures. Reichelt pulled in a team-high seven rebounds, while Emily Clemens dished out five assists. Western outshot SEMO 48.4% (30-62) to 34.3% (23-67) from the field. Western limited the Redhawks to just two made three-pointers (2-14), while the Leathernecks had its best day at the line this season, knocking down 12-of-14 free throws.

Western continues its road-trip up to Chicago this Saturday, December 6, for a game against UIC. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Flames Athletic Center.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Ashley Luke: F; 6' 1"; Junior

#15 Emily Clemens: G; 5' 4"; Freshman

#21 Tori Niemann: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#22 Michelle Farrow: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#25 Liz Skotowski: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#44 Sophie Reichelt: F; 6' 2"; Junior

#42 Jenna Mueller: F; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#5 Ashley Luke
: 6' 1"; Junior
: F

#15 Emily Clemens
: 5' 4"; Freshman
: G

#21 Tori Niemann
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#22 Michelle Farrow
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#25 Liz Skotowski
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#44 Sophie Reichelt
: 6' 2"; Junior
: F

#42 Jenna Mueller
: 6' 2"; Senior
: F