West Central Reporter

Western Illinois University has unveiled the schedule for its women's basketball team for the 2024-25 season. The lineup includes several significant matchups, both at home and away, as well as in and out of conference play.

The highlight of the upcoming schedule is a home game against Missouri on Friday, November 15. This will be the 15th meeting between the Tigers and Leathernecks, and the fourth time they have met in Macomb. Missouri leads the all-time series 13-1.

The Leathernecks will open their season with two home exhibition games against McKendree on October 24 and Dubuque on October 30. The regular season kicks off on Tuesday, November 5, with a home game against Culver-Stockton.

Following this, Western Illinois will face former Summit League rivals Omaha on Sunday, November 10, and Kansas City on Tuesday, November 12. After hosting Missouri on November 15, they will embark on a four-game road trip to Chicago State (November 18), Bradley (November 24), Cincinnati (December 6), and St. Thomas (December 14).

Western Illinois begins its second season in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) by hosting Tennessee Tech on December 17. They will then visit Lindenwood on December 21 before breaking for the holidays.

The non-conference portion of their schedule concludes with a home game against Clarke on December 30. From January onward, Western Illinois will exclusively play OVC games.

In early January, Western Illinois plays away games against SIUE (January 2) and Eastern Illinois (January 4). They return home to face UT Martin (January 9) and Tennessee State (January 11). Another road trip follows with games at Morehead State (January 16) and Southern Indiana (January 18).

A four-game homestand includes matchups against Little Rock (January 23), SEMO (January 25), Eastern Illinois (January 30), and SIUE (February 1). Subsequent away games are scheduled at Tennessee State (February 6) and UT Martin (February8).

Back at Western Hall, they will host Southern Indiana (February13) and Morehead State(February15). Their final road games are at SEMO(February20)and Little Rock(February22).

The last regular-season home game is set for February25against Lindenwood before concluding their regular season at Tennessee Tech(February27). The OVC Tournament is scheduled to take place in Evansville, Indiana from March5to8.

"This season's non-conference is significantly more challenging than the last few years," said JD Gravina, head coach of Western Illinois University's women's basketball team."With two Power5teams(CincinnatiandMizzou),severalSummitleaguegames(Omaha ,UMKC ,St .Thomas ),andsomeregionalrivalrygames(Bradley ,ChicagoSt . )ourfanbaseshouldhaveagreatopportunitytoseewhoweareasateaminNovemberandDecember.ThehighlightofthehomeschedulewillbeMizzoucomingtoMacomb - our goal is to sell Western Hall out!"