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Larry Dean

Women's Basketball Welcomes #16 Missouri to Western Hall in Season Opener

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Leathernecks are playing host to a Power Five opponent for the first time since 1997.

MACOMB, Ill. — The Western Illinois women's basketball team opens the 2018-19 season by playing host to Missouri at Western Hall on Tuesday (Nov. 6) at 8 p.m. The game marks for the first time a power-five women's basketball team has visited Macomb since Dec. 11, 1997, when Missouri played at Western Hall.
 
EXHIBITION WRAP UP: 
Western Illinois topped Truman State, 92-86 in the exhibition opener on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28). Annabel Graettinger led the way with 28 points and four rebounds to go with three assists, while Taylor Higginbotham recorded a double-double 21 points and 12 rebounds. Grace Gilmore followed with 15 points, while Olivia Kaufmann scored 13 points and ripped down seven rebounds.
 
The Western Illinois women's basketball team sank 14 shots from behind the arc and received another double-double effort from Higginbotham to defeat William Jewell 89-77 in the exhibition finale on Thursday night (Nov.1). Higginbotham led the way with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Kaufmann scored 19 points with four assists. All 18 points by Hamm came from beyond the three-point line and Graettinger rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.
 
GRAVINA MOVING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS: 
Western Illinois head coach JD Gravina has 121 wins at the helm of the Leathernecks. A win will move him past former head coach Bea Yeager for second on the all-time wins list in program history. His .551 winning percentage ranks the highest of any coach in the history of the program.
 
PRESEASON RECOGNITION: 
Coming off a stellar and record-breaking 2017-18 campaign that included a power-five win over Illinois and the first-ever AP Top 25 victory over Stanford. The Leathernecks were selected third in the Summit League preseason poll after qualifying for a postseason tournament for the third straight season.
 
Higginbotham netted back-to-back Second Team All-Summit League honors her sophomore and junior seasons. The senior guard was Summit League Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 4, 2017. She is only the eighth player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. Last season, the Germantown, Wis., native averaged 16.6 points per game with seven rebounds per game and shot 38.1 percent from behind the arc.
 
WELCOME TO THE TEAM: 
Eight players with play with the Leathernecks for the first time this season including transfers Annabel Greattinger (South Dakota State), Avery Hamm (Parkland College) and Kyra Washington (Parkland College). Columbia, Mo., native Danni Nichols redshirted last season and is joined by freshmen newcomers Payton Courier, Jinda Guidinger, Elizabeth Lutz and Mackenzie Rogers.
 
SERIES HISTORY: 
Missouri leads the all-time series 11-1 over Western Illinois. The Leathernecks took the Tigers to the wire in a 71-68 loss during the last meeting at Mizzou Arena on Nov. 29, 2016. Higginbotham led the way with a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds.

Missouri has taken seven straight decisions against the Leathernecks and the lone Western victory came the last time the Tigers played inside Western Hall on Dec. 11, 1997. The result was a 68-66 overtime win.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: 
Missouri swept both of its exhibition contests against Missouri Western and Washburn. The Tigers are ranked 16th in the nation by the AP Top 25 poll and are led by Sophie Cunningham, who averaged a team-high 18.5 points last season. Cunningham was recently named to the Chery Miller Award List, the award for the best women's basketball small forward in the country. Starters Amber Smith and Lauren Aldridge also return for the Tigers. Robin Pingeton enters her ninth season as the Mizzou head coach and carries a 147-108 record.
 
ON THE AIR: 
Fans can hear former women's basketball coach and current SEC network commentator Blake DuDonis call the game on the Leatherneck Sports Network with the voice of Leatherneck women's basketball Ryan Kent.

Flagship: 94.3 FM WRMS (Beardstown) Affiliates: 104.1 FM WMQZ (Macomb) | 106.7 FM WPWQ (Quincy).
 
TICKET INFORMATION: 
Single-game tickets are now on sale. For more ticketing information, fans can visit LeatherneckTickets.com.
 
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