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Western Illinois University Athletics

Sophie Reichelt
WIU Visual Productions Center
55
Western Illinois WIU 15-15
68
Winner Oral Roberts ORU 14-15
Western Illinois WIU
15-15
55
Final
68
Oral Roberts ORU
14-15
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Illinois WIU 9 10 17 19 55
Oral Roberts ORU 15 13 23 17 68

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

Women's Hoops Fall in Summit League Quarterfinals

Leathernecks drop opening round contest to Oral Roberts, 68-55

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Western Illinois women's basketball team opened Summit League Tournament play on Sunday, March 6, as the No. 5 Leathernecks battled No. 4 Oral Roberts. The Purple and Gold couldn't overcome a cold afternoon of shooting, dropping a 68-55 decision inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. Sophie Reichelt and Michelle Maher capped their Leatherneck careers on a high note, as both players scored in double figures while Reichelt recorded a double-double. Western concludes its season with at an even 15-15 overall record and an 8-8 mark in Summit League play.
 
Reichelt tallied her seventh double-double of the season as she shared the team-high in scoring (15) and hauled in 12 rebounds. The Mill Creek, Washington, native also added three blocks and three steals in 33 minutes of action. Maher shared the team-lead in scoring as the guard out of Park Ridge, Illinois, tallied 15 points.

"I have to give Oral Roberts a lot of credit, they are very good defensive team and were able to take us out of our rhythm," said head coach JD Gravina. "When they play the way they did offensively, that makes them pretty dangerous. They really stood us up defensively and every point we got was a battle and that's what good teams do to win tournament games."

Western gained an early advantage on the Golden Eagles (14-15, 8-8 Summit), as Mallory Boyle's offensive board and layup opened the scoring 28 seconds into the game. Things would be back and forth in the early going, as the two teams would trade off the first six baskets of the game as Oral Roberts evened things up at 6-6 following a layup from Kaylan Mayberry. Mayberry would lead all scorers Sunday with 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting.
 
A 6-0 run put ORU up by four before Michelle Farrow checked in a connected from deep to trim the Golden Eagle lead to 1 with 2:21 remaining in the opening quarter. Oral Roberts would close with the final five points of the quarter, and never look back, as ORU would lead for the remainder of the game.
 
Western looked poised to make a comeback in the second quarter as the Leathernecks were able to put a mini-run together to cut the deficit to four. Farrow found a cutting Marlow for an easy layup to start the run before Reichelt got a layup to fall in the paint. Marlow then capped the run as she split a pair of free throws. But once again Oral Roberts had an answer, and took a nine-point lead into halftime.
 
The Leatherneck comeback attempt in the second half went unanswered as the Purple and Gold were only able to cut Oral Roberts' lead to single digits once during the final 20 minutes of play. Western could never heat up from the field Sunday, as the team shot 27.7 percent (18-of-65) from the field while only connecting on 5-of-27 3-point attempts (18.5%).

"Where our program is at now versus where it was four years ago when these seniors came is something where we owe a debt to these kids. I appreciate all of the hard work they have put in. It hasn't always been easy, but I thought we really battled through adversity and had a successful season," added Gravina.
 
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