Final Stats

MACOMB, Ill. - The Omaha women's basketball team suffered a 71-44 defeat at Western Illinois on Saturday.

The loss was the second straight on the road for the Mavericks and dropped them to 11-5 overall and 3-3 in The Summit League. The Leathernecks improved to 9-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play while extending their record at home to 7-0 this season.

Carolyn Blair-Mobley led all scorers with 20 points and had a game-high nine rebounds. The Mavs hit just 16-of-52 from the floor (30.8 percent). After starting out hot, the Leathernecks finished 46.0 percent from the field (23-of-50) and 57.9 percent from 3-point range (11-of-19).

Western Illinois came out on fire, hitting 6-of-8 from 3-point range in the opening 7:16 to build a 22-8 lead. The Leathernecks continued to have their way on offense and pushed the lead to 15 on three separate occasions and never let the Mavs within single digits the rest of the half.

WIU took a 37-22 lead into the halftime break, matching the most points the Mavericks have given up in the first half this season. The Leathernecks finished the half 8-of-14 from long distance (57.1 percent). Blair-Mobley scored 10 of the Mavs' 22 points in the half, but they hit just 33.3 percent from the floor (8-of-24).

Things didn't get better in the second half, as the Mavericks hit just 1-of-9 from the floor in the first 9:16 and could never get closer than 13 points. The Leathernecks built their lead to 22 at 55-33 with 7:55 left and pulled away late with an 11-2 run in the final minutes for the 27-point win, the Mavs' largest defeat of the season. Kate Bayes and Allison Jackson each hit a basket for the first points of their careers in the final minutes.

The Mavericks will now play a pair of non-conference road games next week. On Thursday, Jan. 17, UNO will face Chicago State at 7 p.m. Then on Saturday, Jan. 19, the Mavs will play Indiana Dabney at 2 p.m.