Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Taylor Hanneman
29
Monmouth College MC 0-0
113
Winner Western Illinois WIU 1-0
Monmouth College MC
0-0
29
Final
113
Western Illinois WIU
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Monmouth College MC 5 4 11 9 29
Western Illinois WIU 28 29 31 25 113

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

Women’s Basketball Cruises in Season-Opening Win

Four players score in double-figures, led by Emily Clemens’ double-double

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois jumped out to a 14-0 lead and cruised to season-opening 113-29 win over Monmouth College on Friday night (Nov. 11). Four Leathernecks scored in double-figures in the second-largest margin of victory in program history. 
 
Taylor Hanneman led all scorers with 27 points in just 18 minutes, hitting 9-of-12 field goals (3-of-4 from 3-point range) and 6-of-7 free throws.
 
Emily Clemens matched a career-high, dishing out 12 assists to just three turnovers, and the junior point guard scored 13 points along with five steals. Taylor Higginbotham added 19 points (four 3-pointers) and Morgan Blumer added 12 points in her first game as a Leatherneck.
 
The 14-0 lead increased to 28-5 after the first quarter and 57-9 at the half. Western's defense forced 37 Fighting Scots turnovers and came away with 21 steals. The Leathernecks also saw Monmouth (0-0, counted game as an exhibition) shoot just 2-of-21 from beyond the arc.
 
Overall, Western shot 51.8 percent from the field as the 43 field goals tied for the fourth-highest single-game total. Led by Clemens' 12, the 33 assists also finish as the fourth-highest single-game total.
 
Western's 84-point win is second only to the 111-point victory (132-21) over Maryville back in the 1977-78 campaign. It's also the second consecutive season-opener that Western broke the 100-point barrier.
 
"That's what you want to get when you play a non-Division I team. We play two of those games and it kind of offsets when we have to go and play a guarantee game against a really big team. I thought our kids did a good job. We really wanted to learn from the William Jewell and play the way we want to play, which is play with a lot of intensity, play hard, play aggressive in transition on offense. I thought we really did that, really did that for 40 minutes which is incredibly tough to do in those games," said head coach JD Gravina. "I was proud of our team. I thought we got better today. We got a lot of people playing minutes, everyone got double-digit minutes. We spread out our rebounding, I thought we did a better job rebounding in the second half. And I don't care who you're playing against, when you have 33 assists to nine turnovers that is good unselfish basketball."
 
All 11 players that saw action played at least 12 minutes in the game, and everyone scored points. All but one Leatherneck dished out an assist and grabbed a rebound, and nine of the 11 had a steal.
 
Rebecca Gallis led Monmouth with six points.
 
Western hits the road for six of its next seven games, starting with a road game Sunday (Nov. 13) at Milwaukee. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. (CT), and the game can be heard on the Leatherneck Sports Network or watched on ESPN3.
 
 
 
Print Friendly Version