MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois women's basketball played Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14), defeating the Kansas City Roos 78-68 at Western Hall. With the result, Western Illinois moves to 7-12 on the season with a road contest against St. Thomas scheduled for next Saturday (Jan. 21).
"It's good to get a win," head coach JD Gravina said. "We had a little let down at Omaha while up eight in the third quarter, a bad start at Denver and then played a hard-fought game against Oral Roberts, so it's just good to lead from start to finish. It was close enough where we still had to do things down the stretch but I don't know if it really got to the feeling that we were going to lose the game.
"It was good for our mentality and then obviously we had a couple of kids really step up. Anna and Addi with 53 points combined, that's going to win you some games," he added.
WIU came out firing early, opening the game on a 13-2 run in the opening 3:40 of action. Anna Deets found her rhythm with eight of those points, including two shots from deep. UMKC would battle back and keep things close with back-to-back threes late in the quarter as Western Illinois held a 22-19 advantage after one.
Mallory McDermott set the stage for a strong second quarter, hitting a right-handed scoop shot high off the glass during the team's first possession. The Leatherneck defense then held UMKC to just 3-11 shooting to take a 40-27 lead into the halftime break.
The Roos responded, however, using a 23-point quarter in the third to keep the game close. Though Kansas City found its groove offensively, Anna Deets continued to shoot the ball extremely well, scoring 15 of the team's 17 third-quarter points as Western held a 57-50 lead with 10 minutes to play. UMKC continued to battle and brought the game to within four points after draining a triple with 5:59 to go, but a Deets layup and Carla Flores three pointer grew the lead back to nine, and Western shot 7-10 from the line down the stretch to claim a 78-68 victory.
Less than 48 hours after scoring a career-high 24, Anna Deets exploded for 35 points to set a new personal best, also grabbing seven rebounds and shooting 9-17 from the field, 6-12 from deep and 11-11 at the free throw line. Addi Brownfield finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals while Carla Flores combined nine points with four rebounds, four assists, one block and two steals. Elizabeth Lutz would finish the game with seven points, seven rebounds and four assists while Alissa Dins grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists in 35 minutes of action; Mallory McDermott scored four and drew a vital charge late in the game.
"Obviously it's hard to talk about too many people besides (Deets and Brownfield) but at the same time we had some kids who made some really big plays. I think Carla Flores, although she made some mistakes, has really solidified herself as probably our best defender along with Anna," Gravina said. "I also look at players like Mallory McDermott – only played 10 minutes, came in, had a couple good looks at the basket and missed them but kept playing hard then eventually scored and took a huge charge. Those types of plays are some that maybe you don't notice when you go in and miss a couple shots, but it's all about controlling what you can control and sticking with it."
As a team, Western Illinois shot 24-59 (40.7%) from the field while making nine shots from deep and 21 at the line. The Leatherneck defense forced UMKC into 19 turnovers, which were converted into 20 points off turnovers and 12 on the fast break. Both teams were level with 30 points in the paint but WIU won the rebounding battle, 38-36, while holding a lead for all but 11 seconds of the game.
Not only did Saturday afternoon feature a Western Illinois victory and a new career-high for Anna Deets, it also saw graduate guard Elizabeth Lutz achieve something that only 19 players in the history of Leatherneck women's basketball have achieved: she scored her 1,000th career point while wearing a Leatherneck uniform. The California, Mo., native took a first-quarter feed from Carla Flores and finished, and was met by a standing ovation from those in attendance at Western Hall.
"Most of my emotions are coming from the good team win. Obviously, I'm happy to get that under my belt and it's a huge accomplishment that I'm proud of, but it wouldn't mean very much if we didn't have a win to go alongside of it," Lutz said. "Carla and I didn't plan anything but it worked out really well to have a full circle moment for the two of us. She was my freshman year roommate, we've lived together since and been the best of friends so it was a very nostalgic moment that I'll remember forever.
"You see a lot of kids do it in high school but it's just so hard to do in college. To score that many points, I think it cements her name in our program and that's big because she's meant so much to us from a leadership and personality perspective," Coach Gravina added. "Her attempts this year are down and it says a lot about her character that she's willing to go in there and embrace her role. She's our third-leading rebounder, had four assists today, and it's just neat for her to get that milestone."
Lutz and the team are back in action next weekend, hitting the road to face St. Thomas. Tip off in St. Paul is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 21).
