West Central Reporter

Leathernecks Fall at UND

Western Illinois women's basketball played Tuesday night (Dec. 20), facing the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in a game that would finish as a 69-53 victory for the hosts. Western Illinois (5-8, 0-2 SL) will head back to Macomb for its next game, hosting South Dakota State (Dec. 29) and South Dakota (Dec. 31).
 
The first quarter proved to be a close one, with both teams trading buckets; six different players would score as the team shot 5-6 at the line. After Mallory McDermott connected on a floater late in the period, the score was 14-11 after 10 minutes of action. The WIU offense went cold in the second quarter as North Dakota went on a 21-0 run to take a 35-11 lead into the halftime break.
 
Jada Thorpe ignited early in the second half, scoring all 10 points in a 10-2 WIU run that was capped off with a three pointer from the wing with 7:22 remaining in the period, cutting UND's lead to 39-21. Anna Deets, Kennedy Flanagan, Mallory McDermott and Allie Meadows would add triples down the stretch as Western out-scored UND 25-19 in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 18 points at 54-36. The fourth quarter would see WIU hit two more shots from deep and hold UND to 3-13 shooting as the game went final at 69-53 in favor of the Fighting Hawks.
 
Thorpe led the team in scoring with 15 points, shooting 5-11 from the field and 3-4 from deep while finishing with five rebounds and two steals. Zareia Chevre scored eight while Addi Brownfield connected on five attempts at the line to finish with five points. Both Alissa Dins (13) and Anna Deets (eight) set new career-high marks for rebounding, with Dins blocking two blocks and finishing with one steal. Elizabeth Lutz blocked a team-high two shots while Kennedy Flanagan combined two points with four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
 
Both teams struggled to make shots, as Western finished 14-61 while holding UND to 23-65 from the field and 3-17 from deep. WIU made 18 shots at the free throw line while grabbing 44 rebounds (16 offensive) and scoring nine second chance points. The defense finished with 11 steals and three blocks while generating 17 Fighting Hawk turnovers, translating those turnovers into 14 points.

Western Illinois women's basketball is back in action next Thursday (Dec. 29), hosting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Western Hall. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. 

Original source can be found here