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Annabel Graettinger
Sarah Twidwell

North, South, East and West Meet in Compass Challenge

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

The Compass Challenge is a two-day tournament that features all four cardinal direction schools of Illinois.

Western Illinois (3-6) vs. Eastern Illinois (3-3), Northern Illinois (4-3)                      
Date/Tipoff: Dec. 7, 2018 | 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Illinois)
Date/Tipoff: Dec. 8, 2018 | 1 p.m. (Northern Illinois) 
Location: Carbondale, Ill. 
Site: SIU Arena
Radio: Ryan Kent Jr. (WRMS)

Compass Challenge: The two-day tournament will pit the four Illinois directional schools, Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Illinois, against one another in an annual mid-season tournament.

Dec. 7 | 4:30 p.m. | Western Illinois vs. Eastern Illinois
Dec. 7 | 7 p.m. | Southern Illinois vs. Northern Illinois
Dec. 8 | 1 p.m. | Western Illinois vs. Northern Illinois
Dec. 8 | 3:30 p.m. | Southern Illinois vs. Eastern Illinois
 
Series History: Western and Eastern Illinois have played each other 54 times in a series that dates back to the 1971-72 season. The Purple & Gold walked away with the win in four of the last five matchups, but the Panthers claim the all-time series, 34-20.
 
Western's history with the Huskies also began in the 1971-72 season, and Northern manages a narrow 21-17 edge in the series. The Leathernecks last defeated NIU, 83-79, on Nov. 19, 2016, inside Western Hall.
 
Western's Last Outing: The Leathernecks trailed by as many as 18 points before clawing back within five in the final minutes of an 82-68 loss at Bradley. 
 
Western outscored the Braves, 17-6, towards the midpoint of the final quarter, moving the score to 70-65 with 5:12 left, but allowed a 7-0 run to allow BU to distance itself for good.
 
The Lone Ranger: Taylor Higginbotham is the lone senior on the Leathernecks' 2018-19 roster and she sits fifth all-time on the Leathernecks' career scoring list after passing Kelle Lindbeck (1981-84) and Michelle Maher (2013-16) at Bradley.
 
Higginbotham currently manages 1,491 points, shooting 40.1 percent from the field.
 
Western Scoring Leaders
1. 1,699,  Emily Clemens .............................. 2014-17
2. 1,547,  Zane Teilane ................................... 2003-06
3. 1,531, Ashley Luke .................................... 2013-15
4. 1,525, Robin Hasemann........................... 1988-91
 
Saving Grace: Grace Gilmore has started off her sophomore campaign on the highest of notes. She was inserted into the starting lineup this season, appearing in every game so far, and has already surpassed several of her 2017-18 stats.
 
2017-18: Minutes (169), Rebounds (36), Steals (7), Points (77)
2018-19: Minutes (252), Rebounds (46), Steals (16), Points (86)
 
Road Woes: The Leathernecks are still in search of their first road win of the season after starting the year with setbacks at Purdue, Butler, Southeast Missouri and Bradley. Offensively, when comparing home and road stats, Western is averaging 23 less points on the road (85.8 vs. 62.5) while the opposition is scoring almost 10 more points (84.0 vs. 74.2).
 
The third quarter has been particularly troubling for the Leathernecks as they've been outscored 104-59 in the frame in road games.
 
League Leading: The Leathernecks sit atop The Summit League in several categories:
 
Free-Throw Attempts – 195 (11th in the NCAA)
Free-Throws Made – 139 (ninth in the NCAA)
Steals – 109 (8th in the NCAA)
Three-Point Attempts – 271 (3rd in NCAA)
Three-Points Made – 88 (2nd in NCAA)
Turnovers Forced – 24.0 per game (16th in the NCAA)
 
*nation marks as of Dec. 5
 
The Long Ball: Western sits second in the nation with 88 three-point field goals made. Taylor Higginbotham leads the charge with 16 treys while Elizabeth Lutz adds 14 and Olivia Kaufmann 12.
 
The Leathernecks set an NCAA Division I record against MacMurray College earlier this season with the most the most three-pointers made in a single game (28) and are coming off 14 versus William Woods.
 
Scouting the Panthers: Eastern Illinois enters Friday's game with an overall record of 3-3 after dropping back-to-back games by four points or less at Bradley (67-64) and Valparaiso (62-60). Taylor Steele and Karle Pace are both averaging 13.8 points per game while Jennifer Nehls is the most active on the boards with 6.8 RPG.
 
Scouting the Huskies: Northern Illinois (4-3) will open the Compass Challenge with Southern Illinois Friday night before taking on the Leathernecks. The team joins Western and EIU in seeking its first road victory.
 
Courtney Woods guides the team in scoring (20.1 PPG) and rebounds (6.6 RPG) and Mikayla Voight is the only other Huskie contributing double figures in points (15.1 PPG). Errin Hodges and Myia Starks narrowly miss the mark with 9.9 and 9.3 points, respectively.   
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