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Western Illinois University Athletics

Emily Clemens
50
Western Illinois WIU 14-12, 7-6
86
Winner South Dakota USD 21-5, 12-1
Western Illinois WIU
14-12, 7-6
50
Final
86
South Dakota USD
21-5, 12-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Illinois WIU 13 10 17 10 50
South Dakota USD 16 25 25 20 86

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

Women's Hoops Fall at South Dakota

Final regular season road game set for this Saturday (Feb. 20) at Oral Roberts

VERMILLION, S.D. – Sophie Reichelt tallied a team-high 14 points and Emily Clemens added 12 as the Western Illinois women's basketball team dropped an 86-50 decision at South Dakota Thursday (Feb. 18) evening. Western falls to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in Summit League play while the Coyotes remained tied for first place in the league at 12-1 (21-5 overall).
 
"I don't think a lot of people understand how good South Dakota is," said head coach JD Gravina. "There is absolutely zero room for error. I thought we were grinding in the first quarter, getting to the free throw line. You have a bad two minutes and the next thing you know it's a 12 point game. They are a championship team, but there were positives and there were a lot of things out of our gameplan that I thought we did well."
 
Reichelt extended her streak of games in double figures tonight with her 14-point effort. The senior out of Mill Creek, Washington, has scored in double figures in 21 games this season and leads the team averaging 15.2 points per game. Clemens tallied her third-straight double figure outing, with eight of her 12 points coming from the free throw line. Clemens also dished out a team-high four assists in the contest.
 
The Purple and Gold kept things close in the opening quarter, as the Leathernecks trailed only by three after the first 10 minutes of the game. USD opened up a 10-4 lead before Western answered with five consecutive points. Reichelt first connected on a triple, one of four in the game for Reichelt, before Clemens converted on a pair of free throw attempts to cut the Coyote lead to one. In the closing minute of the quarter, Michelle Maher once again trimmed the deficit to three with a 3-pointer of her own.
 
With 8:52 remaining in the second quarter, Clemens split a pair of free throws to get Western within one of South Dakota, but it would be all USD the rest of the night. The Coyotes ended the quarter on a 21-4 run to take a 41-23 lead into halftime. South Dakota would build on its lead in the second half as Western struggled to get anything going offensively. The Leathernecks shot 24.6 percent (15-of-61) from the field, its lowest shooting percentage of the season, and was limited to their second-lowest scoring output of the season.
 
Taylor Higginbotham nearly registered a double-double in the game, as she ended with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
Western concludes its final regular season roadtrip of the season this Saturday, February 20, at Oral Roberts. Tip-off against the Golden Eagles (11-15, 8-6) is set for 2 p.m. inside the Mabee Center.
 
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