West Central Reporter

Leathernecks Defend Home Court, Take Down the Coyotes

Leatherneck women's basketball hosted the South Dakota Coyotes on Saturday (Dec. 31), completing a wire-to-wire victory that finished 76-67 at Western Hall. The result marks just the second time South Dakota has lost a regular season conference game to a team not named South Dakota State since Western's last victory over the 'Yotes on Feb. 25, 2017, and it's Western's first Summit League win of the 2022-23 campaign.
 
"We got off to such a great start, hit a few threes right out of the gate but after that it's not like this was a great shooting night – it was a grind the rest of the game," head coach JD Gravina said. "It's hard to say we took some things from that 20-point loss against SDSU, but we did, and I thought we really got after it. We moved the ball way better, moved without the ball way better, and I definitely think that went a long way… Our kids just came out and battled and that's really fun as a coach."
 
Addi Brownfield earned a spot in the starting five as Western Illinois jumped out to a quick lead thanks to back-to-back threes by Anna Deets and Carla Flores. After the Coyotes brought the game to within three Western went on a 9-0 run fueled by two more threes – one by Deets and the other by Elizabeth Lutz – as the first quarter ended at 21-16 in favor of the Leathernecks. The WIU offense continued to roll in the second quarter, out-scoring USD 20-14, as Western Illinois took an 11-point lead into the halftime break.
 
Western went on another shooting streak early in the third quarter, as Alissa Dins, Brownfield, Deets and Mallory McDermott all drained triples during a 14-6 run that built Western's biggest lead of the game at 55-35. South Dakota ended the quarter on an 11-0 run to keep things close, and the score was 55-46 after three.
 
With the Coyotes holding momentum after a strong finish to the third quarter, Carla Flores came up with clutch baskets early in the fourth, hitting two shots from the short corner that kept Western's lead at nine. South Dakota brought it within six points at 67-61 with 3:33 remaining, but Dins soon finished a spinning right-handed layup to put Western back up by eight with less than three to go; Dins, Deets, Flores and Elizabeth Lutz then combined to shoot 7-8 at the free throw line in the final minute of action to seal the victory.
 
"We were struggling offensively and had some things break down when Carla hit those shots, so that made them even bigger," Gravina said. "I thought Alissa's post move and then Carla's pull-up jumpers were probably the biggest offensive plays of the game."
 
Anna Deets led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 6-13 from the field, 3-7 from deep and 8-9 at the line while grabbing four rebounds and blocking one shot in 39 minutes of action. Alissa Dins finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three steals, while Carla Flores paired 13 points with three rebounds. Elizabeth Lutz scored nine and grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds, also dishing out four assists and grabbing two steals while Mallory McDermott scored five and grabbed six rebounds in 17 minutes of action off the bench. Addi Brownfield played 37 minutes and finished with six points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the first start of her collegiate career.
 
"The big thing about Addi is she moves really well off the ball which is strange for a freshman because they usually struggle to pick it up, but when you see a good flair screen set, a lot of times it's her, she cuts," Gravina said. "We know she can score and she rebounds, gets steals, she defends and just plays really hard, and she had three assists to one turnover today so that's a really good line for a freshman. I think the thing that's really earning her time is that rebounding effort and just being really active on defense.
 
"It's also key that Alissa can make such good passes, and she's slowly gaining confidence in her scoring - she had one of the biggest baskets in the game. She's rebounding really well and getting rebounds against bigger players so it's nice to see her continue to improve and gain confidence," Gravina added.
 
Though Western's hot shooting cooled off in the second half the defense came up big, holding South Dakota to 18-55 (32.7%) from the field and 8-30 (26.7) from deep for the game while also forcing more Coyote turnovers (19) than the offense committed (nine). The team finished with eight steals and four blocks and converted those USD turnovers into 18 points off turnovers and 18 fast break points. The 'Yotes won the battle on the boards 49-43 but WIU controlled the offensive glass, grabbing 14 to USD's 12, while scoring 24 in the paint seven second-chance points.
 
Saturday's performance saw several Leathernecks set or tie new career-best marks in multiple statistical categories. Deets set a new personal best in minutes played (39) while tying her previous career-best in points (23), and Dins' 13 points and five assists were both new career-best marks. McDermott's six boards set a new career-high, surpassing the five she grabbed against Eureka on Dec. 3. Brownfield played more minutes (37) than she has in her young career while tying her best mark for assists (three). Carla Flores' 13-point outburst also was the most she's scored since putting 13 on the board against Denver on Feb. 12, 2021.
 
"It's crazy because Carla and I had a good, long talk a week or two ago, and she finally flipped that switch," Gravina said. "It's hard coming back from such a tough injury and so for her to finally flip that switch, gain some confidence and bring that grit and toughness, it paid off."
 
Western Illinois women's basketball is back in action next week as the team travels west to face Omaha (Jan. 5, 7:05 p.m.) and Denver (Jan. 7, 2 p.m. CT).
  

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