OMAHA, NEB. - The Western Illinois women's basketball team took its four-game winning streak into Omaha on Sunday (Feb. 8) afternoon. The Leathernecks fought back to regain the lead late in the game only to see the victory slip away in the closing minutes, dropping a 54-51 decision to Omaha. Western Illinois moves to 15-9 overall, and 7-4 in Summit League action, with the decision, while Omaha moves to 2-9 in The Summit League (7-16 overall).

Ashley Luke led the way for the Purple and Gold, finishing with 19 points and 14 rebounds. The double double gives the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, native 10 double-doubles in the past 12 games, while also extending Luke's active streak of games in double figures to 61-straight.

"The first 35 minutes of the game is where we lost it. All of sudden we want to pick up our intensity and have different body language," said head coach JD Gravina. "You don't win Division I college road conference games with that sort of intensity. You take one look at our body language and you can tell that we did not do a good job preparing mentally."

Both teams got off to a slow start with the Mavs leading 13-11 midway through the first half. However, the Leathernecks would soon start to warm up, using a 10-0 run to jump ahead of Omaha. Sophie Reichelt opened with the first five points of the run with a triple from the left wing and a pull-up jumper in the paint. A layup from Tori Niemann and a three pointer from Michelle Maher ensued, and the Leathernecks were quickly on top 21-17 with five minutes left in the half.

The sharp shooting would cool off as the Mavericks took a slim 26-24 lead into halftime. Western struggled shooting the ball as they went 9-of-35 (25.7%) from the field and just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first half.

After the break, Omaha maintained its advantage over Western, eventually building the lead to 11 points with 9:14 remaining in the game.

However, Western would once again rise to the occasion and storm back to take the lead. Over the span of 4:13, Western used a 12-0 to come all the way back from 11 points down to take a one-point lead at 49-48 with just over 3 minutes remaining. 

Luke led the charge, scoring six of her team-high 19 points during the run. She was joined by Niemann (four points) and Emily Clemens (two points) in leading the comeback effort.

Taije Kelly tied the game up at 49-all with 2:39 after she went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.The Mavericks then added three more points from the free throw line to take a 52-49 lead with just under 30 seconds remaining. Michelle Farrow hit a pair of free throws which were answered at the other end by a pair from Lanese Bough.

With 11 seconds left in the game, and the Purple and Gold trailing by three, Western had one final look to tie things up. Luke found Clemens in the left corner as time ticked down, and a shot fake would leave the freshman point guard with a good look to send the game to overtime. The attempt was no good, and Omaha walked away with the three-point victory.

The offensive woes continued for the Leathernecks in the second half, as they shot 28.6% from the field in the final 20 minutes, including going 0-of-9 from beyond the arc in the half.

Niemann would end the game as Western's second-leading scorer, as she finished the game with 12 points an a game-high four steals.

Western Illinois returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 14), as the Leathernecks travel to Indianapolis to take on IUPUI. The Valentines Day tip-off is set to take place at 2 p.m. inside the Jungle.