MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois women's basketball team hosted William Jewell in its lone exhibition game of the season Thursday night (Nov. 6). Junior Ashley Luke recorded a double-double, while two other players scored in double figures, as the Western Illinois defeated William Jewell, 71-63.
 
"We definitely didn't schedule a slouch. When you look around that league, we found a team that will really push us," said head coach JD Gravina. "There are definitely some things I'm disappointed with. Our ball-handling was atrocious and really I think the main thing I'm disappointed with is if you asked everyone in the gym who played harder and who played tougher, every single person would answer them. That's a little bit frustrating. We have to figure out a way to guard the ball better. I thought our half-court defense was really good in the first half. In the second half they just opened up and we couldn't guard anyone."
 
Action started slowly, with Western getting its first basket on an Emily Clemens jumper in the paint at the 17:43 mark. For Clemens, it was her first collegiate game after a standout career at Muscatine High School in Muscatine, Iowa.
 
At the second media timeout Western Illinois only led by a 11-9 margin. From there, the Purple and Gold would extend its lead to 16-9 thanks in part to stifling defense, as the Cardinals were held scoreless for over six minutes during the stretch.
 
Things began to heat up down the stretch for the Leathernecks, who shot 40.6% from the field in the first half while holding William Jewell to 9-of-35 shooting (25.7%). Western Illinois leaned heavily on the play of senior Tori Niemann, who led the team with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, including six straight points individually.  A Michelle Maher 3-pointer with seven seconds left gave the Leathernecks a 35-23 lead heading into halftime.
 
Western would maintain its double-digit lead throughout the opening minutes of the second half until a quick 7-2 spurt by William Jewell. The scoring run cut the Leatherneck advantage to single-digits at 49-40 with 11:54 left. Maher hit a deep three, her third of the game, to regain the 12-point lead.
 
Luke, who was tabbed as the preseason "Player of the Year' in The Summit League, began to heat up in the second half after being held to just two points in the opening 20 minutes. Luke received a nice feed from Clemens with 6:59 left in the game to give Luke 11 for the game, but she wasn't done scoring. Luke hit a pair of free throws a minute later to maintain a double-digit advantage for the Leathernecks and moments later was the recipient of a nice Michelle Farrow feed for another layup. Luke would end the game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a block.
 
NCAA Division II William Jewell, members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, hung tough with the host Leathernecks, keeping it close thanks the long ball in the second half. The Cardinals hit their eighth three-point field goal of the second half to cut the Leatherneck lead to 67-61 with just under two minutes remaining in the game. Niemann would score four straight points from the charity stripe to extend Western's lead back to 10 points and the Leathernecks would close out the eight-point victory.
 
Niemann would end the game as the second-leading scorer with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Maher also hit double-figures as she recorded 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. The Leathernecks displayed the deep bench it will feature this season, as 12 of the 14 eligible players saw minutes Thursday night, with 10 players getting in the scoring column.
 
"I thought for the most part we got a lot of good things out of our newcomers. I thought for how much pressure she was getting, Emily (Clemens) handled the ball pretty well," said Gravina. "I though Mallory Boyle gave us really good minutes. She played to her strength, which is defensive rebounding. I thought Jenna Mueller gave us good minutes and that's someone we'll be working in the lineup a little bit more. Michelle Farrow came in off her redshirt year and got us off to a really solid start and she'll be competing for that starting spot. I though Crystal Corhn gave us something different, picking up our intensity so I really liked what the newcomers did today." 
 
Thursday night was the lone exhibition for the Leathernecks, as they open the regular season their next time out. Western Illinois will travel to Colombia, Missouri, to take on the Tigers, who finished 17-14 overall, 6-10 in the SEC last season, in a nonconference game. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 15th.