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Sam Pryor
Rachael Keating

Summit League Play Starts in Macomb

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Western Illinois host North Dakota State on Saturday (Jan. 2) and Sunday (Jan. 3).

GAMES NINE & TEN
 
Who | Western Illinois (1-7) vs. North Dakota State (5-1) 
When | Saturday (Jan. 2) and Sunday (Jan. 3) at 1 p.m. 
Where | Macomb, Ill. - Western Hall
TV | Leatherneck All-Access 
Social Media | Twitter + Facebook #TRADITIONofTOUGH

Tip-Off | The Western Illinois women's basketball team begins Summit League play with the hosting of North Dakota State on Saturday (Jan. 2) and Sunday (Jan. 3). Both games are set for 1 p.m.

The Leathernecks final non-league game on Wednesday (Dec. 30) against Chicago State was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the Cougars program. 

Headlines 
  • Three Leathernecks are averaging double-digit nights - Evan Zars (10.3), Grace Gilmore (10.0) and Danni Nichols (10.0) - only two other teams in the Summit have the same with South Dakota and South Dakota State. 
  • Head Coach JD Gravina enters his 10th season at the helm of the Leathernecks and owns the all-time winning percentage at .521%. He is one win away from becoming the second-ever coach in program history to win 150 games.
  • Elizabeth Lutz leads the conference in steals (19) and steals per game (2.4). The 19 total swipes pace her 23rd in the country. 
  • Both Senior Sam Pryor and Freshman Anna Deets have hit a three in all eight games this season, Pryor is tied for second in the league with a team-leading 17 threes and Deets is tied four fourth at 14.  
  • WIU is 17-10 in the all-time series versus NDSU with a 10-2 mark inside Western Hall and winning the last four of five. 
  • Senior Grace Gilmore sits at 15th in free throw attempts (50) and 26th in free throws made (36) nationally. 
  • Last year's Summit League Newcomer of the Year, Evan Zars, recently moved into sixth all-time in blocks with 60. She is 28th in blocked shots and 36th in rebounds (68) in Division I.  
  • Danni Nichols recorded her first double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds) of the season against Bellarmine. 
Pryor's Bison | Last season Sam Pryor had the habit of hitting clutch shots against the North Dakota State Bison. In Fargo, she nailed a turnaround jumper that forced what would become two overtimes. Pryor then maintained the ice in her veins and hit a last-second three-pointer to defeat NDSU (79-78). 

Then inside Western Hall, Pryor drilled the dagger three-pointer that erupted the crowd en route to a career-high 16 points at 1:06 in the fourth quarter in an 86-79 win.

Scouting the Bison | Under second-year head coach Jory Collins, the Bison are ranked 19th in the College Insider Mid Major Poll and received a vote in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. NDSU owns a 5-1 record with a notable victory over Kansas on the road and  is leading the league in free throw percentage (78.9) and 3-point field goal percentage (41.5) and ranks second in scoring offense (72.7 ppg)

Summit Schedule Format | The 16-game slate will be conducted in a single-site format, with teams playing back-to-back, no break between days. The men's and women's league schedules also mirror each other, with each date featuring a doubleheader.

Western Illinois 2020-21 League Schedule
Jan. 2-3 | North Dakota State
Jan. 8-9 | at South Dakota State
Jan. 15-16 | Kansas City
Jan. 22-23 | South Dakota
Jan. 29-30 | at North Dakota
Feb. 6-7 | at Omaha
Feb. 12-13 | Denver
Feb. 27-28 | at Oral Roberts
 
Last Time Out | The Western Illinois women's basketball team (1-7) dropped a non-league contest at Iowa (5-1) 65-92 on Tuesday (Dec. 22) afternoon.

Both sides traded the lead seven times in the first quarter as the Leathernecks nailed four straight threes led by Carla Flores, who hit back-to-back. Evan Zars and Anna Deets also hit a shot from deep as part of the barrage, and the Hawkeyes held a two-point lead, 18-16 after the first 10 minutes. 

One of four Iowa native on the roster, Mallory McDermott made it a one-point game (20-21, Iowa) at 8:10 in the second with a pair of free-throws, but the host took advantage of 14 first-half WIU turnovers and closed on an 11-3 run to enter the half up 41-29 and never looked back.
 
Up Next | The Leathernecks head to RV/No. 25 South Dakota State on Jan. 8-9, both games are scheduled for 5 p.m. 
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