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Western Illinois University Athletics

Taylor Higginbotham
WIU Visual Productions Center
78
Winner UIC UIC 6-1
70
Western Illinois WIU 6-5
Winner
UIC UIC
6-1
78
Final
70
Western Illinois WIU
6-5
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UIC UIC 19 18 15 26 78
Western Illinois WIU 18 17 15 20 70

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

Leathernecks Drop In-State Battle to UIC

Taylor Higginbotham scores team-high 17 points in first career start

PHOTOS

MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois women's basketball team dropped an in-state contest to UIC Saturday (Dec. 12), falling to the Flames by a 78-70 final. Freshman Taylor Higginbotham made her first career start for the Purple and Gold, and responded with a team-high 17 points. Taylor McClintock and Emily Clemens joined Higginbotham in double figures, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. WIU falls to 6-5 on the year while UIC moved to 6-1.
 
"We knew UIC would be a really good team coming in. They were 5-1 but played Purdue pretty tough," said head coach JD Gravina. "UIC got out to a really good start and I was proud of the way our girls fought back. When you shoot a lot of threes that can happen. You look up and you're down 11-2, but you're only two 3-pointers from being back in the game. We had to go zone, they're such a tough match up for us. They're such an athletic team and not like a lot of teams that we'll play in our league, not that it's not an athletic league, but it's just a different style of play."
 
Saturday's game was a back-and-forth affair, as game featured 10 ties and 20 lead changes, with neither team owning a double-digit lead. UIC led by as many as nine during the game while the Leathernecks built a five point advantage midway through the second quarter.
 
After spotting the Flames an 11-2 advantage out of the gate, the Leathernecks fought back to within one. The comeback was sparked by McClintock off the bench, as she tallied eight straight Leatherneck points in a span of 1:27. The sophomore tallied back-to-back threes before a highlight-reel layup pulled within a point at 19-18 after the first quarter of play.
 
The Purple and Gold built a five point lead midway through the second quarter as Michelle Maher's triple and Ciara Marlow's jumper pushed WIU ahead by a point. Clemens would then find the bottom of the net on a layup in the final 10 seconds of the half to pull WIU within two at halftime.
 
After a third quarter in which the two teams matched each other point-for-point, the fourth quarter was a see-saw battle. Ten times in the fourth frame the lead changed hands, and the two sides were knotted up six additional times in the final 10 minutes.
 
With the score evened at 68-all, McClintock was fouled with 1:58 remaining as she attempted a shot from long range. McClintock would go 2-of-3 from the charity stripe to give Western a two point lead. A triple from UIC's Marissa Grossfeld on the ensuing possession gave the Flames the lead for good at 71-70 with 1:40 left in the game.
 
WIU had two good looks from three their next time down, but attempts from Maher and Clemens went in and out, and the Flames finished 5-of-6 from the free throw line to seal the game.
 
Maher and Clemens led the offense to near perfection, as the two combined for 10 assists to just three turnovers on the afternoon. Maher's five helpers give her 365 in her career at Western and moves her into fourth place on the all-time assists list.
 
UIC's Ruvanna Campbell, the reigning 'Defensive Player of the Year' in the Horizon League, tallied a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 22 rebounds. The 22 boards are tied for the fifth most by and Division I player in a game this year. Terri Bender, an All-Horizon League Defensive Team selection a year ago, made her season debut Saturday and finished with nine points, five assists, and five rebounds.
 
"Terri Bender had been out and we expected her not to be back, so with her being their second-best player last year coming back we knew that would make things tough. Ruvanna Campbell is a mid-major All-American, such a good athlete and finishes well around the basket and you can't keep her off the boards," added Gravina.
 
Western Illinois will have the week off for finals before hitting the hardwood next Monday, December 21. The Leathernecks travel to Manhattan, Kansas, for a Big 12 Conference matchup against Kansas State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
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