MACOMB, Ill. - What a homestand for the Western Illinois women's basketball team (10-9, 4-2), a Summit League Player of the week award, six players in double figures, and three straight league victories.
The Leathernecks broke out the brooms for the third straight league dub inside Western Hall after a 75-61 defeat of Oral Roberts (8-11, 3-3) Saturday (Jan. 18).
"Those (Summit League) are huge wins, that is a team that swept us last year, and if you want to compete in this league, you have to win your home games." head coach JD Gravina said. "This team (Western Illinois) is very versatile and its really fun because we have a lot of ways we can win games."
Down by 25 to start the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles clawed back and made it an eight-point game (67-59) entering the media timeout, but the Leathernecks converted at the free-throw line to hold on.
Coming off her first career player of the week honor, Olivia Kaufmann erupted the Western Hall crowd to their feet. After a driving layin, she stole the ORU inbound pass for an easy layup in the midst of an 11-2 run. The senior guard notched her seventh game this season with 20-plus points.
The homestand sweep was also highlighted by Evan Zars, who recorded her third straight double-double (11 points & 10 rebounds) and her fourth in the last five games.
The story of the second quarter was lockdown defense, and the end was a 39-22 lead into the half. Western held Oral Roberts to only one field goal and seven points while the Leathernecks shot 50 percent from the field.
Second in the nation in free-throw attempts as a team, Danni Nichols scored eight of her 18 from the line while the Leathernecks continued to improve from the line to conclude a 19-28 performance from the charity stripe.
Flirting with a triple-double throughout the night, Kaufmann notched 21 points, seven rebounds, and tied a season-high six steals.
Western Illinois carries the momentum into the road for weekend matchups against Omaha on Friday (Jan. 24) and North Dakota Sunday (Jan. 26).
