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Women's Basketball Rounds Out Road Swing at Southeast Missouri State

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Leathernecks finish a three-game road stretch with hopes to get back in the win column.

MACOMB, Ill. — The Western Illinois women's basketball team closes out a three-game road swing at the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: 
The Western Illinois (1-4) women's basketball team fell at Butler (3-0) in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, 92-51 on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 17). 
 
"This was about the worst-case scenario," head coach JD Gravina said. "We got off to a bad start and felt like we didn't do anything right. We have a long way to go and we'll have to take some time to reflect on it. We're small, but if we bring a little more toughness to the table I think we can make up for that."


Two minutes into the contest, Taylor Higginbotham used a nice up and under move to tie it up 4-4 on a layup. The Bulldogs went on a 14-1 run over the next six minutes to open up a double-digit advantage, 18-5. Elizabeth Lutz connected on a corner trifecta with one minute to go as the Leathernecks trailed 20-8 after one quarter. 
 
The Bulldogs added to the margin by pounding the ball inside and Western did not have a real answer until a trey by Kyra Washington in the final two minutes to cut the deficit to 32-16. Butler ended the first half on a 6-0 run capped off by a backcourt steal and layup by Kristin Spolyar for a 38-16 halftime lead for the home squad. 
 
Butler rattled off a 16-0 run to start the third quarter before it was snapped on a baseline layup by Annabel Graettinger with 5:15 left as Western was behind, 55-18. Washington hit another three-pointer at the three-minute mark, but the Bulldogs continued to grow their lead to 66-27 after three quarters. 
 
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Washington and Kaufmann went back-to-back from behind the arc as Western Illinois trailed 74-40 before Butler put together another 11-0 run. The Leathernecks scored 24 points in the fourth quarter including a three by Lutz on the final possession in a 92-51 loss. 
 
Lutz and Washington both scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. Higginbotham pulled down a team-leading five rebounds.
 
RECORD SHATTERED: 
Western Illinois made 28 three-point field goals as a team on Monday, Nov. 12 against MacMurray College to break the NCAA Division I record previously held by Sacramento State (25) on Jan. 23, 2016 against Portland State.
 
ALL-TIME SCORING WATCH:Taylor Higginbotham recently passed Tiffany Cornelius (2001-2004) for seventh on the program career scoring list. Higginbotham has scored 1,426 career points at Western Illinois. 
 
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS: 
Southeast Missouri State is 0-3 on the season following a 60-40 loss at Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 14. The Redhawks finished last year with a 14-17 overall record. Sophomore guard Tesia Thompson paces the Redhawks with 19.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Senior guard Adrianna Murphy is the team leader in assists with 3.7 a contest and also averages 9.7 points per game. Rekha Patterson is in her fourth season at the helm and owns a 42-52 record as a head coach. 
 
SEMOSERIES HISTORY: 
Western Illinois leads the all-time series 6-5 and has won four of the last five meetings including an 87-59 drubbing of the Redhawks in Macomb on Dec. 5, 2017. The last Southeast Missouri State victory head-to-head was on Nov. 24, 2015 inside Western Hall, 89-84 over the Leathernecks. 
 
ON THE AIR: 
Fans can hear Ryan Kent call every game on the Leatherneck Sports Network. 

Flagship: 94.3 FM WRMS (Beardstown) Affiliates: 104.1 FM WMQZ (Macomb) | 106.7 FM WPWQ (Quincy).
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