MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the 2015 Summit League Tournament. The Tournament will be played in the brand new Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and will be hosted by the Sioux Falls Sports Authority. Western Illinois finished the regular season with a 9-7 record in The Summit League and a 17-12 overall record. The Leathernecks ended league play in a three-way tie for third place with Oral Roberts and IUPUI. Western Illinois will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will take on #5 IUPUI. Tip-off between the Leathernecks and Jaguars is set for 12 p.m. The game can be viewed nationally on ESPN Full Court and WatchESPN/ESPN3. Jay Elsen and Greg Stemen will have the call while Brian Shawn will report from the sidelines.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: 
Television: ESPN Full Court or WatchESPN/ESPN3 (T.V. or Internet subscription required)
Radio: Leatherneck Sports Network (94.3 FM WRMS or wrmsfm.com)
Live Stats: TheSummitLeague.org

SCOUTING IUPUI: IUPUI ended the season with a 14-15 record and a 9-7 mark in league play. The Jaguars finished in a three-way tie for third along with Western Illinois and Oral Roberts. Akilah Sims, a All-Summit League 'Second Team' honoree this year, leads the team as she records a team-best 11.5 points per game. Nevena Markovic, a Honorable Mention All-Summit League recipient this season is second-best on the team as she averages 10.8 points per game while leading the Jaguars on the boards with 6.1 rebounds per contest. The Jaguars enter the tournament on a two-game losing streak, dropping road games at South Dakota and South Dakota State to end the regular season. Austin Parkinson, in his fourth season as head coach, is 74-80 at the helm of the Jaguar program.

SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the 39th meeting in program history between the Leathernecks and Jaguars with Western Illinois holding a 26-12 advantage in the series. Western Illinois swept the both regular season match-ups between the two schools this season, as they took the opening meeting, 73-62, in Macomb on January 29. Two weeks later, the Leathernecks knocked off the Jaguars by a 69-62 decision. Ashley Luke paced the Leathernecks to the pair of victories, as she scored a combined 48 points while adding 26 rebound in the two meetings.

LEATHERNECKS IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT: Sunday's contest against IUPUI will be WIU's 31st game in program history at The Summit League Tournament. Western holds an all-time record of 11-19 in the tournament, and have dropped its last three Summit League Tournament games. This is the first time that the Leathernecks are the No. 4 seed in the tournament, and Sunday's contest marks the fourth-ever meeting between WIU and IUPUI in the tournament. Western claimed victories in 2000 and 2005 while IUPUI took the last meeting in 2007.

LAST TIME OUT: Tori Niemann's desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer came up short Saturday (Feb. 28) afternoon as the Leathernecks dropped a 78-75 decision to South Dakota in Vermillion. With nine seconds left in the game, the Leathernecks trailed by three points after a pair of free throws from Tia Hemiller of USD. Emily Clemens, who tallied a season-high eight assists, brought the ball into the frontcourt and found Niemann on the right wing. Niemann was forced to put up a contested shot from the beyond the arc. Her attempt caught the front of the rim before falling to the ground, sending the Coyotes to victory on Senior Day. The attempt to tie the game up came after a great comeback effort that saw the Leathernecks erase a 12-point second half deficit. Trailing by a 52-43 margin with 10:45 left in the second half; Western Illinois went on a 16-5 run over 2:52 to make it a one-point Coyote advantage. Sophie Reichelt started the run with a jumper along the left baseline. Reichelt, who was limited to four points in the first half, exploded for 13 points in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting, 3-of-3 from three point range. Ashley Luke followed with a pair from the free throw line, as she ended the game with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Luke moved into third place on Western Illinois' all-time scoring list, surpassing Kelle Lindbeck. Luke now has 1,511 career points and is 15 points shy of taking over second place on Western's all-time scoring list. Michelle Maher's three-point field goal with 7:35 left trimmed the deficit to a single point. The Purple and Gold were able to get the deficit down to one on three separate occasions down the stretch, but were unable to ever take the lead.

LUKE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA OF THE YEAR: It was announced on Feb. 26 that junior Ashley Luke was honored as the Division I women's basketball Capital One Academic All-America of the Year, as presented by CoSIDA. After being named a Third Team honoree a year ago, Luke becomes the first person from Western Illinois to be recognized with the award and first women's recipient of the award in Summit League history. The accolade comes in a season in which Luke has led the Leathernecks both on and off the court. Luke graduated in December of this season with a 4.0 GPA and bachelors degrees in journalism and political science. Now pursuing a masters degree, Luke is leading the team in points per game (19.5), rebounds per game (11.4), and blocks (31). Luke's assists (68) and steals (42) both rank second on the team and her 135 offensive rebounds are the second most in Division I this season.

LEATHERNECKS GARNER POSTSEASON RECOGNITION: It was announced on Thursday, March 6, that both Ashley Luke and Tori Niemann had received postseason awards, as voted on by the media, coaches, and Sports Information Directors. Luke, the preseason 'Player of the Year', maintained her status as the best player in the league as she was tabbed The Summit League 'Player of the Year'. Niemann was recognized as an All-Summit League Honorable Mention, the second consecutive season in which Niemann was named a Honorable Mention.

REPRESENTING ILLINOIS: The 2014-15 WIU record of 17-12 is one of the best this year in comparison to other universities in Illinois. Of the 10 public universities in the state of Illinois that participate in Division I women's basketball, Western Illinois' 17 victories are tied for the most among those institutions. Western Illinois also has more victories over one private university (Loyola), and only trail DePaul and Northwestern (both private) for the outright lead among Illinois universities.

BEST SINCE 06: The 2014-15 season is shaping up to be the best season of Leatherneck Basketball in almost a decade. Western's 17 wins are the most wins in a single since since the 2005-06 season in which the Leathernecks went 23-7 and competed in the WNIT. The Purple and Gold have had two winning streaks reach four games long this season, the first time since the 05-06 campaign in which a Leatherneck team has had two winning streaks in a season reach four games.

THE STREAK CONTINUES: Dating back to the end of her freshman campaign, Ashley Luke has been one of the most consistent players in the country, as she has registered 66-straight games of 10 or more points. During the streak, Luke has scored exactly 10 points twice, 11-15 points 14 times, 16-20 points 24 times, 21-25 points 14 times, 25-30 points eight times, and 31+ points four times. Her career-high is 35 points, which she scored against South Dakota in the first round of the 2014 Summit League Tournament. Luke's streak is the second-longest known streak in the nation, with Kelsey Minato of Army's streak of 77-straight games (through March 5) being the only known streak longer than Luke's.

MAHER BREAKS THE RECORD: In Western Illinois' victory over Denver on Jan. 15, Michelle Maher became the program leader in career three pointers, passing Amanda Walker for the top spot. A 5-of-7 shooting performance against the Pioneers gave Maher 147 career three pointers, surpassing Walker's career total of 146. In her career, Maher has knocked down 159 triples. 

LONG BALL AMONG NATIONS BEST: Western Illinois has found success from beyond the arc this season, having made 206 field goals from three-point range. The Leathernecks' average of 7.5 made three-point field goals per game is among the best in Division I, as the team ranks 31st nationally. The team hit 14 triples in its victory over Denver, tied for the fifth most in a game in Leatherneck history. The 211 made triples are the 4th most in a single season in Leatherneck history. 

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS: Western Illinois posted an 8-5 nonconference mark this season, one of the best nonconference records in recent history for the Leathernecks. The eight wins matches the most nonconference wins under JD Gravina, as his squad a year ago also recorded eight wins. The .615 winning percentage in nonconference games this season is the best winning percentage for a Leatherneck team since the 2005-06 team that went on to finish 23-7 and claim the Mid-Con regular season title.

LEATHERNECKS SWEEP: On January 31, Western Illinois knocked off Fort Wayne by a 59-55 final. The victory completed the season-sweep for Western Illinois over the Mastodons, after picking up a 98-85 road win to open league play. The pair of wins gives Western Illinois its first-ever regular season sweep of Fort Wayne. On the year, Western has swept a total of four opponents, as the Purple and Gold also swept IUPUI, Denver, and North Dakota State. The victory at IUPUI was the first home conference loss for the Jaguars in 2014-15, and the four sweeps are the most since the 2007-08 team that also recorded four sweeps on the season. 

FARROW HOT FROM DEEP: Redshirt freshman Michelle Farrow has been the team leader from beyond the arc this year, with a team-best 49 made three pointers. Farrow was hot from deep during a six game stretch for the Leathernecks (Nov. 29 through Dec. 21), as Farrow shot 65% from three-point range (17-of-26). On the year Farrow is shooting 41.2% from long distance. Against Denver on Feb. 21, Farrow scored a career-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. The six made triples fall one shy of the program record for most three pointers made in a game. Earlier this season, Farrow was fourth nationally in three-point field goal percentage. 

KNOCKING EM DOWN FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: The Leatherneck went 4-0 to open 2015 and much of the success can be attributed to the team's performance at the free throw line. In the four games, the team shot a combined 86% from the free throw line. Western Illinois was 9-of-10 against Eureka, went 19-of-20 to end nonconference against Milwaukee, was 35-40 in The Summit League opener against Fort Wayne, and shot 19-of-25 against Omaha. Combined, the team was 82-of-95 during the stretch. This season, Tori Niemann is shooting a team-best 83.5% from the free throw line. Against Fort Wayne on Jan. 31, Ashley Luke was a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe, the 2nd best FT performance in school history. Luke's 17-of-17 outing against Southeast Missouri her sophomore year is the best performance in program history. 

LUKE JOINS 1,000 POINT CLUB: Junior Ashley Luke entered Leatherneck history during Western Illinois' contest against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 24, as she became just the 14th player in program history to record 1,000 career points. Luke becomes the first Leatherneck to join the club since Zane Teilane, who was a member of Western Illinois from 2003-2006. Currently, Luke has 1,511 career points, the 3rd most in program history, trailing Robin Hasemann by 14 point for 2nd on the all-time list.

NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS: In almost three full seasons at Western Illinois Ashley Luke has proven herself to be one of the top players in today's game. Her 46 career double-doubles are the 7th most among active Division I players, while her career average of 9.7 rebounds per game ranks 12th on the active career leaders list. Luke has scored 1,511 career points, the 12th most in Division I, and her 17.0 points per game ranks 20th most among active players. Luke has knocked down 580 career free throws, the 18th most among active players in Division I.