MACOMB, Ill. - At halftime, Western Illinois women's basketball (10-13, 6-6) trailed IPFW (7-17, 4-9) by five but 52 second-half points and a career-high 23-point performance and seven rebounds from Brittany Demery sent the Purple & Gold to its sixth league win and .500 in league play.
Saule Kontautaite followed her 26-point night on Saturday with 21. Sadie Webb collected 18 points. Western also traveled to the line on 34 occasions and knocked down 27 of those.
The last time Western scored 80 or more points in consecutive wins over Division I programs was January of 2001.
The Mastodons sprinted out to a 7-2 lead and forced Head Coach JD Gravina to burn a timeout at the 17:32 mark. IPFW continued to control the pace and stretched its lead to 13-4 with 14:10 left before halftime.
The Leathernecks were able to regroup and slow the IPFW momentum and a jumper from Rachel Evans at 8:17 cut the 'Dons advantage to 19-14.
An excellent outlet pass from Rebecca Henricson found Saule Kontautaite on the break for an easy bucket and stopped IPFW's run making it 29-23 with 3:42 on the clock.
A steal and fastbreak layup and a following free throw after being hacked from Demery at the 1:47 mark would tie the game at 29-29 to cap a 10-0 run.
The game reached the midway point with IPFW holding onto a 34-29 advantage. Western's offense was helped by nine Mastodons turnovers, which led to nine Leatherneck points while IPFW's collected 16 points off the bench. Kontautaite led all scorers with 10 first-half points while Demery chipped in nine points.
Demery continued her solid play as she scored the first 12 points of the second half to keep Western in the game. Her turnaround jumper at the 16:15 mark pulled the Leathernecks within two, 41-39, with 16:01 on the clock.
Valencia Kelly converted two free throws to cut the Mastodon lead to one at 46-45 at the 14-minute mark. Webb hit an easy jumper underneath the basket after a perfect entry pass from Kelly to give Western's its first lead of the game, 49-48, at the 12:49 mark.
Kontautaite knocked down her second three-pointer to give Western a five-point advantage, 56-51, at the 9:10 mark. She followed with another long-range shot giving the Leathernecks a 63-58 lead with 7:42 on the clock.
Webb drilled a three from the top of the key to extend Western's lead to 68-58 with just under five minutes to play.
Free throws allowed IPFW to get within six as the time ran out inside Western Hall but the Leathernecks would go on to collect the victory and improve to 4-1 in its last five games.
Joining the Demery, Kontautaite and Webb in double digits was Kelly with 10 as Western shot 46.3 percent from the floor with 18 points off turnovers.
IPFW's bench contributed 29 points as four Mastodons finished in double-digits led by Anne Boese with 14 points.
After playing three of its games four games inside Western Hall the Leathernecks will head to Tulsa, Okla. for a 2:05 game with Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles took the season's first meeting 78-66 but Western was leading 40-39 at the midway point. ORU has dropped two of it last three games against Summit League opponents.
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