OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team fell to Western Illinois 90-51 on Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena.

Leaders for Omaha
Junior Ellie Brecht led the Mavericks with a team-high 14 points in the loss, shooting 5-of-9 from the floor with four 3-pointers.  Freshman Emily Dewey set a career-high with 12 points, connecting on 6-of-10 shots and grabbing six rebounds.

Freshman Emily Petersen added eight points, while sophomore Kalen Phillips chipped in five points, four rebounds and three steals.

Leaders for Western Illinois
Emily Clemens led four Fighting Leathernecks in double-figure figures with 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor, including five trifectas.  Clemens also had six assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Taylor Higginbotham posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Morgan Blumer added 14 points, nine boards and three steals, while Michelle Farrow had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Team Statistics
The Fighting Leathernecks shot a combined .419 (31-of-74) from the floor compared to the Mavericks' .317 (20-of-63).  WIU also shot .778 (14-18) from the free throw line, whereas, UNO shot .429 (3-7) from the charity stripe.  Western Illinois held a 55-31 advantage in rebounding.

Inside the First Half
Western Illinois shot .524 (11-of-21) from the floor with four three-pointers and outrebounded Omaha 14-6.  Omaha was .231 (3-of-13) from the field with three treys.  The Fighting Leathernecks opened the game with a 12-3 spurt.  The Mavericks managed to cut the lead to five, 14-9, on three-pointers from Brecht and freshman Emily Petersen.  Western Illinois, however, finished the period on a 14-0 run and led 28-9 after the opening 10 minutes.

The Mavericks shot .250 (4-of-16) from the floor in the second quarter and held the Fighting Leathernecks to .300 (6-of-20) from the field.  Brecht and junior Amber Vidal led the Mavericks with six and five points, respectively, in the quarter.  Western Illinois closed the half on a 15-3 run, taking a 47-20 lead into the locker room.

Inside the Second Half
Omaha shot .382 (13-of-34) from the field in the second half, while Western Illinois hit at a .412 (14-of-34) clip.  The Fighting Leathernecks connected on .467 (7-of-15) from beyond the arc while the Mavericks shot .182 (2-of-11) from long range.  Dewey led the Mavericks in the second half, scoring all 12 of her points, while Blumer and Clemens paced the Fighting Leathernecks with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

One of the bright spots for Omaha came late in the fourth as the Dewey scored six straight Maverick points to key a 7-1 run.

The loss moved the Mavericks to 8-8 on the season and 0-4 in Summit League play, while the Fighting Leathernecks advanced to 13-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

Up Next
Omaha returns to the floor on Thursday, Jan. 18 as the Mavericks battle Denver at Baxter Arena.  Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and links to live stats, audio and video will be available at OMavs.com.