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Westerwinds down Oral Roberts 60-46

February 24, 2008 on 9:15 pm | In Athletics |

TULSA, Okla. Senior Gina Hugelier tallied a team-high 19 points and added 10 rebounds in the Western Illinois women’s basketball team’s 60-46 victory over Oral Roberts at the Mabee Center.

The Westerwinds (8-9, 6-0 The Summit League) opened the first half with strong defense forcing the Golden Eagles (10-7, 4-2 The Summit League) into a shot-clock violation on their first possession and held them scoreless until 18:10 remaining in the opening period. Western then opened up a 7-4 lead with just under 17 minutes remaining before Oral Roberts was able to get its first advantage of the game (11-10) with 15:04 left.

The Golden Eagles then took advantage of six free-throw opportunities over a 4:30 span. The free throws were their only points during the span as the Westerwinds held them without a bucket for nearly six minutes. Oral Roberts luck at the free-throw line then ended as they missed on three-of-four opportunities the rest of the half.

In the final six minutes of the half Western went on a 9-5 run, while holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for the final 3:30 to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room.

Both teams came out in the second half with strong defense, holding each other scoreless for three minutes starting with 18:30 left on the clock. Western broke the streak first, with a lay up by Hugelier. The Westerwinds continued the strong defense going on 6-0 run until there was 11:40 remaining when Oral Roberts broke its scoreless streak.

The Golden Eagles tried to regain some momentum, with a 4-2 run over the next five minutes. The push wasn’t enough as the Westerwinds continued to keep up their defensive pressure and ended the last seven minutes of the game with a 17-8 run.

Western kept Oral Roberts to just five steals and forced them into 15 turnovers, below its season averages of 10.6 steals. After being down in the rebounding column 14-18 at the half the Westerwinds stepped up and tied the Golden Eagles with 33 rebounds in the game.

Notes: Hugelier tallied 12 of her 19 points in the first half of play…Western now owns a slight advantage in the all-time series (13-12).

Originaly from Source