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Western Illinois University Athletics

Emily Clemens
WIU Visual Productions Center
77
Winner Western Illinois WIU 21-8,10-4 SL
61
Denver DEN 16-13, 7-7 SL
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
21-8,10-4 SL
77
Final
61
Denver DEN
16-13, 7-7 SL
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Illinois WIU 13 30 17 17 77
Denver DEN 14 13 19 15 61

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

Leathernecks Conclude Regular Season With Win At Denver

Western Illinois recorded its fifth 20-plus win season in program history.

DENVER, Colo. — Emily Clemens led the way for Western Illinois, as the Leathernecks (21-8, 10-4) closed out the regular season with a 77-61 win at Denver (16-13, 7-7) Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24).
 
The senior from Muscatine, Iowa finished with 28 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. Taylor Higginbotham also added 20 points in the contest.
 
"This was a scary road trip, and I'm glad we came away with two wins," said head coach JD Gravina. "Denver is such a dangerous team, and when we didn't get off to a great start it could have really affected us. We played good defense, forced a ton of turnovers and eventually got our offense going. I'm extremely proud of the 21-win regular season, especially with a tough schedule that included four paid non-league games."
 
A slow start in the first quarter put the Leathernecks in a 14-13 deficit after the first 10 minutes. Western responded with a 30-point second quarter to build up a double-digit lead.
 
Higginbotham closed out the quarter with seven straight points to help the Leathernecks build up a 43-27 lead at the half. Through the first two quarters, the Leathernecks also forced 21 Denver turnovers.
 
 Western Illinois opened up the third after Clemens found Michelle Farrow in transition for a quick bucket to go up 17. The lead increased to 20 after a buried Higginbotham shot from beyond the arc with 7:32 left in the quarter. The Leathernecks built its biggest lead (56-34) after the and-1 by Morgan Blumer.
 
The Pioneers, however refused to waiver and closed out the quarter with a 12-4 run to cut the Purple and Gold's lead to 14.
 
With 7:54 to play, Denver cut the lead to eight and forced a Leatherneck timeout. After another Higginbotham basket and a 3-point play by Clemens, the Leathernecks went back up by 14 with 5:15 to go.
 
From there, Western was able to maintain the double-digit cushion and close out the regular season with a 16-point win.
 
With the win, the Leathernecks gain the No. 3 seed in The Summit League Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. There, Western will play No. 6-seeded Omaha in the opening round on Sunday (March 4) at 2:30 p.m. 
 
PROGRAM NOTES:
Western Illinois closes out the season at 21-8, which marks the fifth time in program history of recording 20-plus wins in a season…
Both Emily Clemens and Taylor Higginbotham recorded 20-plus points. Both accomplished that feat back on Feb. 3 of this season at Oral Roberts… 
 
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