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Westerwinds start second half of Summit League season with 64-51 victory over Southern Utah

March 19, 2008 on 9:15 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. Junior Amanda Walker recorded a team-high 16 points and added four rebounds and five assists in the Western Illinois women’s basketball team’s 64-51 victory over Southern Utah on Waste Management Court at Western Hall.

In the first four minutes of the game the Westerwinds (10-11, 8-2 The Summit League) and the Thunderbirds (5-16, 3-7 The Summit League) had a hard time settling in and finding the bucket as Western scored the only four points during the span. The Westerwinds then started an 11-3 run over the next eight minutes to take a 15-3 lead.

Southern Utah responded with a 7-3 run over the next five minutes to cut the advantage to eight (18-10). Over the final 4:30 of the game Western stepped up its defense and held the Thunderbirds to just two points, while adding 11 to its own total for a 31-12 lead heading into the locker room.

“We were really on in the first half,” said head coach Leslie Crane. “Our offense stalled out a couple of times, but our team kept working on it and they did a much better job in the last 10 minutes of the first half of being patient in our offense.”

The 12 points scored by Southern Utah in the first half was the lowest total that the Westerwinds have allowed this season. The previous low was 19 by the Thunderbirds when Western traveled to Cedar City, Utah, January 7.

The Thunderbirds opened the second half with a 12-4 run in the first 4:35 to cut the lead to 11 points (35-24). Walker then hit a three-pointer to push the advantage back to 14 before the teams started trading shots over the next four minutes. The Thunderbirds’ Aubrey Mackintosh then hit two three-pointers in a row to get them within 10 points.

Western quickly responded and pushed the lead back out to 15 points. Both teams continued to trade baskets until Southern Utah started a 5-0 run to cut the lead to seven points with 6:07 remaining.

Junior Katy Davenport hit a three-pointer with 5:03 remaining to get the advantage back into double digits. The shot also started a 6-3 run during the remainder of the game.

“Our intensity level went down in the second half,” Crane said. “We weren’t putting the right type of pressure on them, we just needed to be more consistent.”

After both teams struggled with low shooting percentages in the first half, they both recovered in the second stanza. Western shot 38.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes of play and then recorded a 54.2 mark in the second half, while Southern Utah improved from a 23.8 mark in the first to a 66.7 shooting percentage in the second half.

One of the keys to Western’s victory was rebounding, as the team out-rebounded the Thunderbirds 35-22, including a 13-3 advantage on the offensive side. The Westerwinds used that advantage, as 17 of their points were second chance points.

Western finishes up their longest homestand of the season when UMKC comes to Waste Management Court at Western Hall, Monday, February 4 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

Notes: Senior Stephanie Lovingood was the only other Western player with double-digits in the points column, with 13.

Originaly from Source