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Western Illinois University Athletics

team
Matthew Brooks
55
Western Ill. WIU 2-6,0-0 Summit League
63
Winner Southeast Mo. St. SEMO 4-5,0-0 OVC
Western Ill. WIU
2-6,0-0 Summit League
55
Final
63
Southeast Mo. St. SEMO
4-5,0-0 OVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Ill. WIU 16 14 16 9 55
Southeast Mo. St. SEMO 7 22 16 18 63

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Start Fast in Loss at SEMO

Anna Deets scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the first quarter, Leathernecks play the next two at Western Hall.

CAPE GIRAREDEAU, Mo. – Leatherneck women's basketball was in action Wednesday night (Dec. 7), facing Southeast Missouri State in a game that finished in favor of SEMO, 55-63. Western moves to 2-6 on the season and will play host to Valparaiso on Friday (Dec. 9) and SIUE on Sunday (Dec. 11) before heading up to Moline, Ill., to face Saint Xavier next week.
 
"I think one positive was that we got off to a really good start which we haven't done all year," head coach JD Gravina said. "(SEMO) ratcheted up the pressure and we just let it rattle us… I think that affected every single part of the game for us – our shooting, our finishing around the rim, it affected our turnovers, and our passes were out of rhythm."
 
Anna Deets returned to the starting lineup and wasted no time making an impact, hitting three shots from deep during a 14-0 WIU run that gave the team a 12-point advantage at the first media timeout and set the stage for a 16-7 lead after one quarter of action. SEMO fought back with a 10-0 run to start the second period and both teams traded buckets for the rest of the way, with Carla Flores splashing a shot from the left wing with 30 seconds remaining in the first half to give Western a 30-29 advantage heading into the break.
 
The back-and-forth play continued into second half but it was the Leathernecks who found an early advantage, feeding the post often which led to nine third quarter points from Alissa Dins. Dins also drained a corner three after a Zareia Chevre offensive rebound and pass, and it was WIU who held 46-45 after three.
 
SEMO came out firing in the fourth quarter, responding to a Chevre jumper with 8:23 remaining by going on a 14-0 run to take a 10-point lead with 2:46 to go. The Leathernecks would keep battling though, as Deets and Flores sank threes to bring the game within eight, but it was not enough as the final buzzer sounded with SEMO leading 63-55.
 
Deets led the team in scoring with 19 points on 6-13 shooting (5-10 from deep), also grabbing a career-high seven boards and finishing with two steals. Dins added 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks, while Elizabeth Lutz combined seven points with five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Flores hit two shots from deep to finish with six points while Chevre and Jada Thorpe each scored five.
 
"Anna was really active and part of it was hitting shots of course. Her rebounding was really impressive in the way she was getting after loose balls, and she took at least two charges and was able to do more things than just knock down shots," Gravina said. "When you're knocking shots down it just means that much more.

"I thought Alissa did some good things, I know she'd like to finish a couple more of those shots but still she's building her confidence. She made some really good post moves, I thought she rebounded pretty well," Gravina added. "Like everyone, their pressure affected her a little bit but she did a pretty good job of getting some easy baskets which was important for us."
 
As a team, WIU shot 20-58 from the field (34.5%) and made a season-high 10 shots from deep, finishing with eight steals on the defensive end and creating 22 Redhawk turnovers; the Leathernecks translated that into 25 points, 12 of which were on the fast break.
 
Western is back in action this Friday (Dec. 9), hosting Valparaiso at Western Hall. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
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