SIOUX FALL, S.D. - What a season for the Western Illinois women's basketball team. Battling through many obstacles in a season like none other, they never stopped and displayed what it means to be a Leatherneck and "Tradition of Tough."
"I can't question our team's effort or energy, I think most coaches can agree the thing you can control the least is making shots and we just struggled the whole game offensively," head coach JD Gravina said. "We were in fine shape at halftime and came out in the second half and got really good looks but didn't make any of them. Then the last 16 minutes of the game, we are playing catchup."
The 2020-21 season came to a close in a 55-69 loss to No. 8 Omaha in The Summit League Tournament Semifinals on Monday (March 8).
The third meeting in the postseason between both sides featured a back and forth first quarter that had Omaha holding a 14-11 edge at the end.
After an 8-2 run by Omaha to start the second quarter, Western began its own run by free throws from Evan Zars to make it a three-point game (21-24) into the media stoppage. The Leathernecks held the Mavs scoreless from the 4:32 mark to 50 seconds left to make it a one-possession game into half, 27-30.
The Mavericks began to pull away in the third quarter as they outscored WIU 23-10 and shot 63 percent compared to Western's 25 from the field to lead 53-37 into the fourth quarter.
Grace Gilmore found Zars for back-to-back buckets in the paint to begin a 6-0 run in the fourth, but another UNO run ended the comeback efforts as they stayed hot from the field. Thu duo both ended with a team-high 16 points, while Carla Flores also finished in double-figures with 10.
The game marked the final appearance for Grace Gilmore in the Purple and Gold. She ends her career playing 107 games, 84 consecutive starts, 864 points, 357 rebounds, and 202 assists as a Leatherneck.
"This team and these girls are my family," Gilmore said. "Just to be able to go out there and play with them, be in the gym with them, and the stuff you are going to remember in a couple of years happened off the court so I am just going to take those memories for a lifetime and I am very thankful for it."
