Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Taylor Higginbotham
Taylor Higginbotham.
78
Winner Western Illinois WIU 7-2
65
Wichita State WICH 2-7
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
7-2
78
Final
65
Wichita State WICH
2-7
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Illinois WIU 16 16 20 26 78
Wichita State WICH 17 13 15 20 65

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

Leathernecks Defeat Wichita State For Road Win, Higginbotham Records Career-High

Western Illinois defeats Shockers behind career-high 29 points for Taylor Higginbotham

WICHITA, Kan. — Another career performance by Taylor Higginbotham helped the Western Illinois women's basketball team surge past Wichita State for its seventh win of the season, 78-65, Friday afternoon (Dec. 1).

After recorded a double-double of 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds Nov. 29 against Chicago State, the Germantown, Wis. native came back with another stellar performance. This time, she totaled career-highs with 29 points and six made three-pointers to go with 10 rebounds.

"I'm really proud of our toughness today," said head coach JD Gravina. "Wichita Sate has a very good and physical team, but we were incredibly scrappy. Playing in front of 6,000 screaming kids made for an awesome atmosphere and our kids really fed off the energy." 

Western Illinois struggled in the early-going of the contest, as the Shockers jumped out to a 15-8 lead and forced a Leatherneck timeout at the 5:25 mark. A quick 6-0 spurt helped the Leathernecks pull within one (17-16) after the first. A long three by Morgan Blumer in the second helped WIU take back a 22-20 lead with 4:57 to go until the half.

After Wichita State was able to get a bucket and gain a one-point lead, Taylor Hanneman nailed a three as time expired to give Western a 32-30 advantage at the half.

Back-to-back trifectas by Hanneman and Higginbotham gave Western a nine-point lead with 6:23 to go, and kept Wichita State out of striking distance through the end of the third (52-45).

Wichita State was able to cut the Purple and Gold's lead to six (66-60) in the fourth, but the Leathernecks were able to answer with a resilient 8-0 run to go up 14 with 2:16 to go, and eventually closed out the game with Higginbotham's sixth three-pointer.

The Leathernecks return home this upcoming Tuesday (Dec. 5) against Southeast Missouri State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Western Hall.

PROGRAM NOTES:
-The win over Wichita State marks Western's first since Feb. 1, 1991 (99-77)…The last road win at Wichita State was earlier that year on Jan. 8 (72-67),
-The win snaps a six-game skid to the Shockers in the series history.
-7-2 record is the best start to a season since 2005-06 (started 6-3 in 2016-17).

PLAYER NOTES:
-Taylor Higginbotham recorded new career-highs in points (29) and three-pointers made (six)…It  also marked her 13th career 20-plus point performance and her eighth career double-double… She is now at 997 points for her career.
-Emily Clemens' 12 points mark her 53rd career double-digit scoring game… Her seven assists mark her 48th career game of five or more assists in a game… She is now only 20 assists shy of the all-time record in program history (Jolene Hanig, 1988-91, 542 career assists, program record holder).
-Morgan Blumer's 17 points mark her 36th career double-digit scoring game.
-Olivia Braun's four blocks are a new season high.
 
Print Friendly Version