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Western Illinois University Athletics

Michelle Maher
WIU Visual Productions Center
89
Winner SEMO SEMO 4-1
84
Western Illinois WIU 3-2
Winner
SEMO SEMO
4-1
89
Final
84
Western Illinois WIU
3-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SEMO SEMO 22 14 27 26 89
Western Illinois WIU 17 21 22 24 84

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Drop 'Elementary Day' Contest to Southeast Missouri State

Michelle Maher ties career-high as Western falls to Redhawks

MACOMB, Ill. – Michelle Maher matched her career-high of 29 points and Taylor Higginbotham notched her first career double-double Tuesday (Nov. 24) afternoon as the Western Illinois women's basketball team dropped a 89-84 decision to Southeast Missouri State. The contest was back-and-forth as the Leathernecks (3-2) and Redhawks (4-1) played through 12 ties and 11 lead changes during the second-annual 'Elementary Day'.
 
"Southeast Missouri State is a good basketball team, they're much improved," said head coach JD Gravina. "I was watching their film and I knew it would be a battle. They are really well rounded, they can attack and score, they can spot up and shoot, they can score in the post, they can rebound well and they can defend well... that's a tough combination. We didn't have our best shooting day, I think the most disappointing thing is we let our shooting not fuel our defense or our intensity, and we got out rebounded by 16. I think that if we knocked down a few more of our shots, maybe have gotten a few more rebounds, we would have that opposite mentality. If we're not shooting well we have to really buckle down defensively and even more on the boards. It is how this year is going to be, we are going to be up and down and we have a lot of games with 50/50 even teams, we just have to find a way to win some of those games."
 
Maher led all scorers Tuesday, scoring a season-high 29 points. The 29-point effort matched a career-high for the Park Ridge, Illinois native as she was 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. The senior also added three rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 38 minutes.
 
Higginbotham continued her strong start to her collegiate career, recording her first double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The freshman fell three assists shy of a triple-double, as she tallied seven helpers.
 
The Redhawks opened up a 10-point lead with 8:26 remaining in the first half before the Purple and Gold stormed back to take a halftime lead. WIU used a 15-4 run over a 5:19 stretch to take a 32-31 advantage. Higginbotham and Taylor McClintock led off the run with back-to-back jumpers as Western started to make their run. Ciara Marlow then connected on a triple and Emily Clemens followed with a fast break layup to cut the deficit to 3. Following a Redhawk layup, Maher then drained back-to-back triples to give Western the lead. Maher stepped behind the arc to make her third triple of the quarter with nine seconds left as Western took a 38-36 lead into halftime.
 
After a see-saw third quarter which saw SEMO outscore the Leathernecks 27-22, the two teams would battle down the stretch. Maher hit a pair of shots from the free throw line to give Western a 65-63 lead with 9:41 left in the game, but Hannah Noe connected on a triple on the next drive down to give the Redhawks the lead for good. The Leathernecks were able to cut the deficit to a single point on two different occasions down the stretch, but SEMO free throws in the final minutes would seal the victory for the visitors.
 
McClintock tallied her third game in double figures, as she was second on the team with 15 points.
 
The second-annual Elementary Day brought 1,246 fans inside Western Hall, the fourth-best attendance in program history.
 
"It helped to have (the kids) cheering for us, I think you can feel a little added pressure too in front of those kids. Those kids may be looking up to you and you want to kind of impress them and have a good outing. But it was a really successful outing, the administration worked like crazy and all the volunteers to make this day happen. And of course thank you to all of the kids who came, it was a fun experience," added Gravina.
 
Western Illinois heads south for a Thanksgiving tournament as the team travels to Jacksonville, Florida for the University of North Florida Classic. The Leathernecks will play Towson on Friday, November 27, and Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, November 28. Both contests will begin at 1 p.m. (ET).
 
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