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Westerwinds fall to Kansas State, 68-53, in final non-conference game of the season

January 29, 2008 on 8:05 pm | In Athletics |

MANHATTAN, Kan. Senior Stephanie Lovingood tallied a team-high 13 points in the Western Illinois women’s basketball team’s 68-53 loss to Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum.

The Westerwinds (3-9, 1-0 The Summit League) opened the scoring at 18:54 when senior Gina Hugelier hit a jumped after netting one of her six offensive rebounds. The score remained close until Western started a 6-0 run over a three-minute span to take a 10-7 advantage. The Wildcats (8-5, 0-0 Big 12) then returned the favor with a 4-0 run from the 13-minute mark until 10:30 remaining to retake the lead (11-10).

Kansas State broke out to lead by as many as nine points with a 6-2 run over 4:30, which started with just under nine minutes remaining in the half. Western recovered and ended the final 2:30 of the half with a 6-2 run to drop the deficit to five, 33-28, heading into the locker room.

After a slow offensive start for both teams in the second half the Wildcats broke out with an 8-0 run from the 18-minute mark until the 15-minute mark to extended their lead to 12. Kansas State then extended its lead to 20 with just under eight minutes remaining in the game with a 10-0 run.

Both teams then stepped up their defense and held each other scoreless for two minutes. Western finished the game with a 13-5 run to close the gap to 15.

“I really liked what we did staying with them on the boards,” said head coach Leslie Crane. “They out-rebounded us in the second half and that was a major difference in the game.”

The Westerwinds and the Wildcats ended the game even in the rebounding column, with 34 each. Western finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds to Kansas State’s 15.

Kansas State used a 48.3 shooting percentage (28-58) to the Westerwinds 37.5 percent (21-56). Sixteen of the Wildcats’ 28 shots came from inside the paint, while Western recorded 18 points from the paint.

The next stop of the Westerwinds five-game road trip will be in Kansas City, Mo., when Western faces UMKC, Saturday, January 5, 2008. The game will be the first Summit League road game of the 2007-08 campaign.

Notes: There was a 13 minutes delay in the first half because one of the shot clocks went out…Hugelier tallied a new season-high nine rebounds, including six offensive boards…she was also the only other Western player to garner double-digits in the scoring column (10).

Quotes
Western Illinois head coach Leslie Crane
“We have played Iowa and Northern Illinois, two very physical teams, so we didn’t have any worries coming into tonight’s game.”

Originaly from Source