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Western Illinois University Athletics

Taylor Higginbotham
54
Winner Western Illinois WIU 9-3
50
Chicago State CSU 0-11
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
9-3
54
Final
50
Chicago State CSU
0-11
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Illinois WIU 5 15 19 15 54
Chicago State CSU 16 10 7 17 50

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

Women's Basketball Edges Chicago State 54-50

Taylor Higginbotham led the way with a team-high 14 points.

CHICAGO, Ill. - A late successful free throw by Taylor Higginbotham helped the Western Illinois women's basketball team edge the Chicago State Cougars 54-50 on Saturday (Dec. 17).

The Leathernecks improve to 9-3 overall and have now increased their win streak to four.

"Give credit to Chicago State for coming out and battling for 40 minutes," said head coach JD Gravina. "I'm proud of the way we executed in the last minute or two, but really disappointed in our overall mentality. You can tell by our assists-turnover ratio that we weren't playing with the aggressiveness we usually come with."

Chicago State closed out the first quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 15-6 lead. Western was still in an eight point hole with 4:22 remaining, and eventually trailed 26-20 at halftime.

An Emily Clemens layup, followed by a three pointer from Higginbotham, made it a one possession game in the third. The Leathernecks took a 31-29 lead, courtesy of an 11-3 run with 4:17 to go in the third quarter. The lead increased to 37-29 after Clemens dished a pass to Higginbotham for another quick bucket.

After three quarters of play, Western held on to a 39-33 lead.

With 4:50 left in the game, the Cougars made it a three point game. A Chicago State and-1, followed by a quick layup put Western down 45-44 with 3:21 to go.

Higginbotham responded with an and-1 of her own, giving WIU a 47-45 lead with 3:08 to go.

With one minute remaining in the game, a pair of Chicago State free throws tied the game at 50-50. Cue Clemens, who found Blumer on the
back-door cut and threaded the ball in-between the Cougar defenders with a bounce pass. That play gave Western a 52-50 lead with 54.3 seconds to go.
From there, Western was able to get a pair of defensive stops, while Clemens and Higginbotham each hit a free throw to put the game out of reach.

Higginbotham scored a team-high 14 points and added seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Clemens had 13 points to go with six assists, six rebounds and four steals. Braun was the third Leatherneck in double figures with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Chicago State (0-11) was led by Kaylee Allen's double-double of 18 points and 11 boards. She also finished with three assists, three blocks and three steals.

The Leathernecks (9-3) close out the non-league season with a home game this Tuesday (Dec.20) against Illinois State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT).

PLAYER NOTES:
-Emily Clemens now has 12 straight games with double-digit scoring (her career 27th)… six assists also marks her seventh game this season of five or more assists (22nd in her career)…
-Olivia Braun had a career-high 12 points… five field goals made ties her career-high for the third time…
-Olivia Kaufmann tied her career-high of one 3-point field goal made in a game…
-Andi Pierce set a new career-high of two rebounds…
-Taylor Higginbotham's team-high 14 points marks the seventh double-digit scoring game for her this season (career 27th)… third time this season and ninth time in her career as the scoring leader… three steals ties her season-high for  the second time… one block ties her career-high for the sixth time (second time this season).
 
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