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Western Illinois Preps for Semifinals Versus No. 8 Omaha

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

No. 5 Western Illinois and No. 8 Omaha set for Monday (March 8) at 11:45 a.m.

Who | No. 5 Western Illinois (8-15, 7-8) vs. No. 8 Omaha (6-12, 4-8)
When | Monday (March 8) at 11:45 a.m.
Where | Sanford Pentagon - Sioux Falls, S.D.
TV | ESPN+ / MidCo Sports Plus - Tom Nieman (PBP) | Brad Newitt (Analyst)
Social Media | Twitter + Facebook #TRADITIONofTOUGH

Tip-Off | The Western Illinois women's basketball team continues its postseason journey against No. 8 Omaha on Monday at 11:45 a.m. in The Summit League Tournament semifinals.

Omaha recently made history and upset No. 1 South Dakota State on Saturday, becoming the first No. 8 to defeat the one seed in Summit League women's basketball. The Western Illinois men's basketball team became the first in 2018-19 with an upset of SDSU as well.  

Headlines 
  • Elizabeth Lutz sank the game-winning free throws with 1.6 seconds left to lift WIU to a 60-59 victory over No. 5 Kansas City.
  • WIU won its first SL Tourney game since the 2017-18 season when they beat Omaha.  
  • The victory on Sunday (March 7) marked the first in program history as the No. 5 seed - was 0-6 all-time- and first over KC in postseason history. 
  • Carla Flores dished out four assists Sunday (March 7) vs. KC to mark her seventh game with four-plus assists, she has notched two games with seven. 
  • Senior Grace Gilmore earned her first career postseason honor by being named to the Second Team All-Summit League. Evan Zars was named an Honorable Mention.  
  • Western is 2-0 vs. Omaha all-time in postseason play - 97-57 (3-4-18) & 84-82 (3-6-17). 
  • Monday marks the second time Western and Omaha faceoff in the semifinals game. The two last met in the 2017-18 season as No. 3 WIU won 97-57 over No. 6 UNO. 
  • On Feb. 6 at Omaha, Gilmore set the program and tied The Summit League Scoring record single-game scoring with 46 points. The mark was also the second-most by an NCAA Women's Basketball player this season. 
  • WIU is the No. 5 seed in back-to-back seasons. 
  • Under head coach JD Gravina, the Leathernecks have qualified all 10 seasons for the Summit League Tournament.  
  • On Jan. 2, in a 76-65 win over NDSU, Gravina became the second coach in program history to win 150 games, he owns the program's all-time winning percentage at .518. He is 6-8 overall in the SL Tournament. 
Double-Digit Danni | Danni Nichols has finished in double-digits in 15 out of 22 regular-season games this season and 10 out of 14 league games. The guard put together a stretch of six consecutive in league play vs. NDSU, KC, and SDSU. She is nearing the 1,000 point club as she sits at 872 career points. 
 
Spark Plug Sam | Senior Sam Pryor has been a spark plug lately to close out the regular season. The guard drilled 33 points, all from three-point, and grabbed nine rebounds. Her 21 points on Feb. 12 was a career-high, along with seven three-pointers. This season she has hit a three in 18 games with 22 in the last five games and is the team leader with 42. 
 
Rookie or Vet?  | Anna Deets has started to make a name for herself in the program. The freshman has appeared in all 22 regular-season games with one start and is averaging 20.3 minutes per game. She is second on the team in three-pointers (39) to rank fifth in the Summit. The Mason City, Iowa native, has knocked down a shot from deep in 20 out of 22 games with 11 games of two or more. 
 
Three of a Kind | Kansas City, North Dakota, and Western Illinois were the only other schools to have a Player of the Week honor outside of South Dakota and South Dakota State. 
 
Evan Zars - Week 8
Naomie Alnatas (KC) - Week 9
Julia Fleeces (UND) - Week 10 
Grace Gilmore - Week 11
  
Scouting the Opposition |  Omaha is coming off a historic win over No. 1 South Dakota State 52-40… WIU and UNO split the regular-season series… the Mavericks won three of their last four games in the regular season to clinch a berth in the Summit League Championship… Elena Pilakouta leads the Mavericks in scoring with 13.4 points per game while shooting 59.3 percent from the floor… 
 
League Highs | Both as a team and individually, the Leathernecks have set game-highs in league play. 
Team - three-pointers made (19) for 2nd all-time in program history, free-throws made (27), assists (23), tied blocked shots (7)
Ind - points (46) - Grace Gilmore, steals (7) - Elizabeth Lutz, blocks (5) - Evan Zars 
 
Last Time Out | After 22 days off from competition, the Western Illinois women's basketball team (8-15, 6-8) overcame a 10 point deficit at the half, and Elizabeth Lutz sank two free throws at the line with 1.6 seconds left to defeat No. 4 Kansas City (10-12, 7-9) 60-59 on Sunday (March 7) afternoon.

Up Next | If the Leathernecks win, they will advance to the championship game against either No. 2 South Dakota or No. 3 North Dakota State and look to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history and second under head coach JD Gravina. The last was in the 2016-17 season. 
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