BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Behind a monster game from sophomore Deja Wimby, the Western Michigan women's basketball team went on the road to defeat Bowling Green 74-53 Wednesday night at the Stroh Center. The Broncos, who snapped a five-game skid, improve to 15-9 overall, 6-7 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and 8-5 on the road this season.
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"Wimby is back to her feisty self, that's back-to-back games with her being her usually self and that's really good for Bronco fans and for our basketball team," head coach Shane Clipfell said. "It feels good (to snap the five-game skid), but the best thing about this team is that we were in the middle of a lot of adversity but none of it was self-inflicted. It wasn't team turmoil or kids not getting along with each other, it was just sickness and personal tragedies and bad bounces. I'm really proud of this team and the fight they kept up when things weren't going so well."
The Falcons had the upper hand early, as the team hit three of their first four 3-pointers and jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first, using a 10-0 run in the process. The Broncos went on a 7-0 run late in the first to cut the deficit, but still trailed 19-13 at the end of the first. The Broncos trimmed the Bowling Green lead to two at the half, trailing 32-30.
The second half was a completely different story for WMU, who came out and outscored Bowling Green 20-7 in the third quarter and 24-14 in the fourth. The Broncos took their first lead of the game on a Wimby layup at the 6:30 mark in the third quarter and never looked back, going on a 22-4 run over the next 10+ minutes. Senior Meredith Shipman capped off the Bronco run by hitting three straight 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.
Wimby recorded her fifth double-double of the season as she led all scorers with a career-high 23 points and recorded a career-high 11 rebounds. She also led the team with five steals and three assists. Shipman finished with 18 points and went 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, making this the ninth straight game she has made multiple triples. Sophomore Breanna Mobley and redshirt junior Marley Hill were each in double-figures as well, scoring 11 and 10, respectively. Sophomore LaTondra Brooks added four points in her second start of the season, going 2-for-2 to extend her consecutive field goals made to 12.
As a team, the Broncos shot 49.1 percent and held the Falcons to 36.5 percent, including 27.8 percent in the second half. WMU won the rebounding battle 37-30 and outrebounded the Falcons 22-10 in the second half. WMU started 0-for-8 from beyond the arc, but connected on their last four including a late 3-pointer by freshman Kamrin Reed.
The Broncos return home for five of their final six games, first hosting Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. in the team's annual Kay Yow Cancer Fund Play4Kay game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.
