MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois erased a 12-point deficit to come back to snatch a 71-65 win over the Omaha women's basketball team on Thursday night at Waste Management Court at Western Hall.
The Mavericks fell to 9-13 overall and 1-7 in Summit League play. Western Illinois improved to 12-11 and 4-4 in conference action.
Five Mavs finished in double figures. Mikaela Shaw had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ericka House had 15 points, Felicia Anderson had 13, Sami Pawlak had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Taijhe Kelly had 10 points and seven boards.
Ashley Luke led WIU with 17 points and nine rebounds. After the Mavs' brilliant defensive effort in the first half limited the Summit League's second-leading scorer to two points on 1-of-4 shooting with no free throw attempts, she forced her way to the basket in the second half to tally 15 points after halftime on 5-of-8 shooting and 5-of-10 free throws. Michelle Maher also had 17 points.
The Mavs got just the start they needed on the road, taking a 6-0 lead keyed by two steals on the defensive end to force a WIU timeout just 1:32 into the game. With the game tied at 8-8, Omaha continued its tenacious defensive effort and went on a 14-2 run to take a 22-10 lead. Anderson scored five points off the bench, and Pawlak scored in transition after Lanese Bough's third steal of the half to go up 17-10. House hit a 3-pointer, and following a Leatherneck timeout Kelly scored to put UNO up by a dozen with 10:38 remaining.
The Leathernecks responded with six straight points to get within 22-16, but Anderson hit a 22-footer to give UNO a 25-16 lead. The Mavs pushed the lead back to 12 in the half on two separate occasions, the latter coming on Anderson's third 3-pointer of the half with 2:01 left for a 32-20 lead. The Mavs recorded 13 steals in the first half, one off their single-game high this season.
The Leathernecks closed to 32-24 by halftime with two late buckets. They continued their momentum right out of the gate after halftime with a 14-0 spurt for an 18-0 run spanning both halves to take a 38-32 lead. A pair of free throws by House with 14:41 left ended the scoring drought at 7:20 and made it 38-34, and Pawlak hit two to cut the lead to 38-36. But back-to-back triples by the Leathernecks put them up 44-36.
UNO climbed back after two free throws by House, a free throw by Pawlak and a turnaround jumper by Pawlak to make it 44-41, but WIU hit its fifth 3-pointer of the half for a 47-41 advantage. WIU went up 50-43, but Pawlak and Kelly scored in the paint to pull the Mavs back within 50-47.
Up 52-49, Western went on a key 6-0 run to take a 58-49 lead, sparked by two free throws and a layup off of a steal of the ensuing inbounds pass. Down 64-55, the Mavs mounted a late rally with a 3-pointer by House and two free throws by the senior with 1:08 left to make it 64-60. In the final minute, House hit a 3 and Anderson connected on a late jumper, but the Leathernecks hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to hang on to the 71-65 win.
Omaha shot 37.3 percent (22-of-59) overall and 6-of-18 from 3-point range (33.3 percent). The Mavs were stellar from the free throw line, hitting 15-of-16 (93.8 percent). The Leathernecks shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the floor and 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from long distance. The Mavs outrebounded WIU, 38-33.
The Mavericks now have a rare off weekend before visiting South Dakota State next Thursday, Feb. 13.
