BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – A near triple-double from junior guard
Deja Wimby and double-doubles from junior
Breanna Mobley and freshman guard
Jordan Walker boosted the Western Michigan women's basketball team past Bowling Green, 81-67, on Wednesday evening. With the victory, the Broncos improve to 14-10 overall and 7-5 in the Mid-American Conference.
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"I am pretty happy with our overall performance, especially the first twenty minutes and we were really locked in on both ends," commented WMU head coach
Shane Clipfell. "We struggled with some ball screen defense in the second half and Bowling Green had no intentions of giving up so we had to battle. I like how this team has understood what we are missing with our injuries and sickness and they have stepped up to fill in holes. This conference is as good as it has ever been from top to bottom and winning on the road is no small feat."
Four Broncos poured in 15 or more points in the second consecutive victory for WMU including the game-high 19 for Mobley. The forward also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to garner her 10th double-double of the season and 29th of her lustrous career. The Lansing, Mich. native is now ninth in program history in career rebounds (742) and 19th in scoring (1097) after her performance tonight.
Junior teammate Wimby was once again all over the stat sheet just missing out on the first triple-double in Bronco history with 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Freshman Walker recorded her first collegiate double-double on 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds all while on her 19th birthday. Following a career-high 27-point performance last time out against Akron, redshirt senior
Marley Hill added 16 points for the Brown & Gold.
Western Michigan led all but 46 seconds inside the Stroh Center on Wednesday evening. The largest lead of the night came in the second quarter with three minutes until half as the Broncos held a 25-point advantage to take a 46-27 score into the break. The Falcons clawed their way back in the third, outscoring WMU 20-17 but the Broncos proved to be too strong to seal the win.
As a team the Broncos shot 48.6 percent in the first half and 43.5 percent for the game. WMU dominated the glass, outrebounding its opponent 45-29 including 21 of them on the offensive end that led to 25 second-chance points. The Brown & Gold forced 13 turnovers and grabbed four steals while committing 14 turnovers themselves. From the charity stripe, the Broncos shot a blistering 22-of-26 that was good for an 84.6 percent rate.
WMU returns home for its annual Play4Kay Pink Game on Saturday, Feb. 10, hosting Ball State inside University Arena with a 2 p.m. tip.