OMAHA, Neb. - Baxter Arena seems to be a special place for Danni Nichols, the guard scored a career-high 24 points and notched her first career double-double as the Western Illinois women's basketball team (11-9, 5-2) defeated the Omaha Mavericks 83-69 (6-13, 1-5) on Friday (Jan. 24).
"I thought some of our team really stepped up tonight," said head coach JD Gravina. "Danni (Nichols) is back to the way she is used to playing through the second round of league play last year, and that's huge for us."
UNO chipped away in the second half of the Summit hoops showdown, but the performance of the former Summit League Freshman of the Year helped halt the comeback efforts. Last time in Omaha (Feb. 2, 2019), Nichols set a career-high of 22 and the trend continued again for Western's fourth straight league victory.
"Having Danni fully back is such a key. When she is playing well, it changes things for us. She seems energized and is out playing some people to rebound and playing well defensively."
A six-point game, 60-54 at 9:02 in the fourth quarter, Evan Zars drilled her only three of the game to begin a Western run that was sealed by a big three-pointer from Carla Flores. After sliding into the starting lineup, Flores has continued to dominate the new roll. She added two more treys en route to a new career-high of 18 points.
After a high scoring first quarter (23-21, WIU), both sides struggled to start the second, including the Mavericks, who didn't score until 4:45 mark. Western eventually found its pace from Flores and Nichols. Both guards poured in 11 points each in the first half to own a 43-31 advantage.
Western Illinois maintains it's third place in the Summit and rides a four-game win streak into North Dakota on Sunday (Jan. 26).
