Macomb, IL. – The Omaha Mavericks fell to the Western Illinois Leathernecks 77-70 on the road Wednesday night in Macomb, Illinois. The Mavericks held a 12 point advantage after the third quarter but a Western Illinois fourth quarter run propelled the Leathernecks to the win.
 
Leaders For Omaha
Elena Pilakouta led the Mavericks with her first double-double of the season scoring 20 points to go with her team-high 11 rebounds. Katie Keitges and Alexis Pratt both joined her in double digits with career-high point totals. Keitges scored 16 including two shots from deep while Pratt scored 10 to go along with her career-best seven assists.

Leaders for Western Illinois
Danni Nichols led the way for Western Illinois with 27 points while hauling in five rebounds. Evan Zars, Jada Thorpe and Alissa Dins all joined her in double digits with 14, 11 and 11 points respectively.

Team Stats
Omaha shot 43.3 (29-67) percent from the field including seven three-point buckets. Western Illinois just outpaced the Mavericks offensively shooting 45.1 (23-51) percent from the field including ten threes and a 21-27 mark from the charity stripe. The Mavericks outrebounded the Leathernecks 43-30 and dished out 17 assists to Western Illinois' 11.

Inside the First Quarter
Omaha got off to a hot start, scoring the first eight points of the game capped off by a transition layup from Murdie. A Keitges three pushed the Omaha lead to 15-8 before three's from Dins and Anna Deets closed the gap. The Mavericks would take a 20-19 lead into the second.
 
Inside the Second Quarter
After Western Illinois pulled ahead 27-24 early in the quarter Sam Mitchell and Keitges combined for three straight threes to put the Mavericks back ahead 33-30. A Josie Filer free throw and three-pointer would give Omaha a 39-38 lead heading into the break.

Inside the Third Quarter
Pratt kicked off the second half with a baseline jumper, followed by a Keitges jump shot to make the Maverick lead 43-38. Omaha would later go on an 11-6 run fueled by six straight points from Pilakouta to take a 54-47 lead with 4:21 left in the quarter. Buckets from Kennedi Grant and Pilakouta before the end of the quarter would push the Omaha lead to 61-49.

Inside the Fourth Quarter
The Leathernecks started the fourth quarter on an 21-4 run to take the 70-65 lead thanks in large part to 10 points from Zars and eight from Nichols. Grace Cave ended the scoring drought with a three to make it 70-68 Leathernecks. Nichols drained five free throws down the stretch to seal the win for Western Illinois.

Next Up
The Mavericks will return to Baxter Arena on Thursday Dec. 30, for their final contest of 2021 against Kansas City at 7 p.m.