MACOMB, Ill. - Senior Tori Niemann notched her second career double-double Tuesday (Dec. 30) evening as the Leathernecks closed out 2014 in style with a 79-59 victory over Milwaukee inside Western Hall. The Leathernecks finish the nonconference portion of its schedule with an 8-5 record while Milwaukee, short-handed with just eight players, fell to 4-8.

"Obviously a really good win tonight. To me, Milwaukee is a peer institution, a peer program," said head coach JD Gravina. "We both had coaching changes about the same time, we recruited Jordyn Swan but didn't get her. We have four players from Wisconsin on our roster and the three that were out there tonight played really well. In the first half I was really happy with our halfcourt defense. They had 11 offensive rebounds, but we were boxing out well and just not going after the rebound. In the second half they only had two offensive rebounds which was big."

For Niemann, the 22 points were a season-high and marked the second most points she has scored in a game for the Purple and Gold. She also registered a game and season-high 10 rebounds to nab her second career double-double.

From the get go, Niemann made her presence known as she scored 14 of the team's first 20 points as they built an early advantage over the visiting Panthers. Niemann went through a stretch where she single-handedly scored 12 straight points for the Leathernecks. Western Illinois pushed its lead to 13, its largest margin of the first half, after redshirt-freshman Michelle Farrow hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Western a 26-13 lead. At that point, the Leathernecks were an impressive 6-of-9 from deep and would end the half hitting seven shots from long distance.

After the Panthers cut the first half lead down to four points late in the half, Western responded by scoring the final seven points of the half to take a 37-24 lead into the intermission. Faith Lois secured a rebound before starting the fast break en route to a jumper to get the run started. A layup by Mallory Boyle and a pair of free throws from Niemann ended the Leatherneck scoring for the half. Western's defense stifled Milwaukee, as the Panthers shot 23.1% (9-39) form the field in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Milwaukee was unable to mount a comeback, as the Panthers never got the deficit within single digits. Western was able to maintain the lead largely due to its free throw shooting. The Leathernecks, who as a team were shooting 67.9 percent from the charity stripe entering the game, went 15-of-16 from the line in the second half after going a perfect 4-of-4 from the line in the first half. The 19-of-20 (95%) performance from the free throw line is the best free throw performance from Western this season. Nine of the final 12 points for Western Illinois came from the free throw line as the team extended the lead to as many as 21 points.

Ashley Luke, who failed to score a point in the first half, scored 10 points in the final 20 minutes to secure her 50th consecutive game in double figures. Luke was 2-of-4 from the field and hit all six of her attempts from the free throw line.

Sophie Reichelt was 4-of-9 from deep Tuesday night and finished the game with 16 points. Lois had her best game as a Leatherneck, as she finished with 10 points, her first double-figure scoring effort as a Leatherneck. 

Junior Michelle Maher, the league leader in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio, had another stellar game. The Park Ridge, Illinois, native finished the game with a season-high nine assists and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.8.

"Obviously they tried to take Ashley Luke out of the game. They were playing a box-and-one on her which is really tough as a post player," added Gravina. "I think most teams would have freaked out a little bit but our girls looked really comfortable and had the mentality that they underestimated the rest of us. Tori Niemann obviously had one of her best games as a Leatherneck. Sophie Reichelt and Faith Lois had really good minutes and Michelle Maher is such a good passer. She had nine assists and I'd like to see her lead the league in assists, and when her shot isn't falling she can still be a really good offensive threat for us."

The Leathernecks now hit the road to begin Summit League play. Western Illinois rings in the new year on Friday (Jan. 2) at Fort Wayne, with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT). Following the contest, Western Illinois returns home for a Sunday (Jan. 4) game against Omaha, with tip-off being moved up an hour to 3:30 p.m.