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Women's Basketball Continues Early Homestand

Friday, November 09, 2018 | By: WIU Athletic Communications

Mid-major powerhouse Drake visits Western Hall on Saturday, Nov. 10 followed by a Monday, Nov. 12 meeting against MacMurray College.

MACOMB, Ill. — The Western Illinois women's basketball team welcomes Missouri Valley Conference front-runner Drake to Western Hall on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m. and takes on MacMurray College on Monday, Nov. 12 with 7 p.m. tip-off.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Western Illinois women's basketball team battled but fell 89-64 in the season opener against 16th ranked Missouri on Tuesday night (Nov. 6).

Annabel Graettinger flew to the basket for a layup to tie the game 5-5 before Missouri went on a 7-0 run into the first media timeout and led the Leathernecks 18-8 after the first quarter.

Taylor Higginbotham nailed back-to-back triples to open up the second quarter and cut the deficit to 18-14 with 8:39 left in the second quarter. Graettinger drilled a three-pointer on the next possession to make it a one-point game. Missouri kept firing from deep as Lauren Aldridge connected on a three for a 28-21 lead with 4:35 to go in the first half. A minute later, Olivia Kaufmann had a teardrop fall as the Leathernecks trailed 30-25. Missouri closed out the first half with a 35-27 lead.

After a layup by Kaufmann with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter, Western Illinois was trailing 39-30 before Aldridge knocked down a trifecta from the top of the key at the halfway point of the quarter for a 48-35 margin. Kaufmann converted a three-point play the old fashioned way with 1:45 to go in the third as the Leathernecks trailed 57-42 and they were behind 61-44 after three quarters of play.

Missouri built a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter on a mid-range jumper by Akira Levy and with 7:39 left, Grace Gilmore answered on a triple to trim the deficit under 20 at 68-51. The Tigers began to coast and All-SEC First Teamer Sophie Cunningham eclipsed 30 points on the night after hitting a layup while being fouled at the four-minute mark for an 83-59 advantage. Western fought till the end but came up on the short end of an 89-64 final score.

Graettinger and Kaufmann both scored 18 points while Graettinger led the team with six rebounds. Gilmore scored 11 points and ripped down five rebounds as Higginbotham rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 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:
Newcomers Annabel Greattinger (South Dakota State), Avery Hamm (Parkland College), Danni Nichols, Payton Courier, Jinda Guidinger, Elizabeth Lutz and Mackenzie Rogers all made their Leatherneck debuts on Tuesday (Nov. 6) versus Missouri.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:
Drake is coming off a season opening win, 83-77 at Nebraska. The Bulldogs finished last year with a 26-8 overall mark and fell 89-76 to Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Junior guard Becca Hittner is the preseason MVC Player of the Year after averring 15.7 points and 4.5 rebounds last season. Junior forward Sara Rhine mostly came off the bench last season, but still averaged 15.6 points with 6.1 rebounds per game. 2017-18 MVC Coach of the Year, Jennie Baranczyk enters her seventh season as head coach with a 126-69 overall record. From 2000-2004, she starred at Iowa and put her name in the record books. Including the MVC tournament, Drake has won 42 straight conference games and the Bulldogs are ranked fifth according to the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major poll.

DRAKE SERIES HISTORY:
Drake leads the all-time series 23-1 over Western Illinois. The Leathernecks and Bulldogs last met on Dec. 5, 2007 when Drake won 77-58 inside Western Hall. The lone Western win in the series was an 87-78 decision over the Bulldogs on Jan. 25, 1992.

SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS:
MacMurray College is a Division III institution and a member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Highlanders are coming off a 5-20 campaign during in 2017-18 and bring in a new coaching staff. Chad Harmon enters his first season at the helm after coaching stints at Monmouth College and Evansville. His wife, Bailey Harmon was on the Western Illinois women's basketball staff for four seasons. MacMurray assistant coach Andrew Mitchell ran the Leatherneck men's practice squad last season. The team's leading scorer from a year ago, Shelby Fink (13.7 PPG) returns for the Highlanders.

MACMURRAY SERIES HISTORY:
The contest will be an exhibition for MacMurray and a regular season game for Western Illinois. Monday marks the first ever meeting between the Highlanders and 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).

TICKET INFORMATION:
Single-game tickets are now on sale. For more ticketing information, fans can visit LeatherneckTickets.com.

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