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Western Illinois University Athletics

USC Upstate FP
78
Western Illinois WIU 16-16
81
Winner USC Upstate UPST 22-11
Western Illinois WIU
16-16
78
Final
81
USC Upstate UPST
22-11
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Illinois WIU 18 24 15 21 78
USC Upstate UPST 24 16 17 24 81

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

WBI Run Ends in Quarterfinals at USC Upstate

Leatherneck basketball season comes to a close with heartbreaking 81-78 loss

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Leathernecks' postseason run came to an end Saturday (March 19) evening, as Western Illinois fell to USC Upstate by a final score of 81-78. Western, the No. 4 seed, ends its season at 16-16 while the No. 8 Spartans move to 22-11.
 
Saturday's loss caps Western's fourth-ever DI postseason appearance. On the heels of the first victory in postseason history, the Purple and Gold nearly made it two-straight as the team played USC Upstate to the wire. A 3-point attempt by WIU at the buzzer just missed as the Leathernecks were looking to force overtime for the second time in as many games.
 
Just like Western's opening round contest against Southern Illinois, WIU's second round contest was tightly contested from the opening tip, as neither team led by double digits. It was neck-and-neck through the first three quarters, as the two teams were even at 57-all headed into the final quarter of play.
 
Following the 13th tie of the game, Sophie Reichelt gave Western a two-point lead at 67-65 with just under four minutes remaining in the game. After the Spartans hit triples on back-to-back possessions, Michelle Maher evened things up at 71 with 2:17 left in regulation. Upstate would take the lead for good on the following possession, but the Leathernecks weren't done fighting. Reichelt drilled a three with eight seconds left to cut the deficit to two, and Western would have one last shot to tie things up after USC Upstate split a pair of free throws. Emily Clemens found Michelle Farrow open in the corner, but the last-second attempt went unanswered.
 
The pair of seniors in Reichelt and Maher led the way offensively in their final game wearing the Purple and Gold, finishing with 23 and 22 points, respectively. Reichelt added 10 rebounds to tally her eighth double-double of the year and ended her career scoring in double figures in the last 18 contests. Maher capped her Leatherneck career in fifth place in all-time scoring (1,485) and second in career assists (437). Clemens added 13 points and five assists and Taylor Higginbotham contributed 12 points.
 
"Really proud of our kids. We came on the road, we battled through some things and played a close ballgame," said head coach JD Gravina. "It was a great experience playing in the WBI. To get to play two conference tournament level games, I think we learned a lot about our mental approach that will help us next season. We learned a lot about the way we like to operate offensively and we learned a lot about sticking together as a team and going with the flow. I'm really proud of our team and I think they did Macomb and Western Illinois proud."
 
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