BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Western Michigan women's basketball team opened Mid-American Conference play with a thrilling 84-82 victory at Bowling Green State University Saturday, Jan. 5 at the Stroh Center. 

For the third consecutive season, WMU comes out victorious in the conference opener, improving its overall record to 7-5 overall with a season-high 84 points.

"I told every one of our players, 'gutsy, gutsy, gutsy,' following the game," said head coach Shane Clipfell, who secured his fifth career MAC-opening win during his seventh season leading the Broncos. "I give a lot of credit to our team. We had a lot of youth that hadn't been in that situation before and I couldn't be more proud of them."

Four of five Bronco starters tallied double digit scoring numbers. Jasmyn Walker and Kamrin Reed led the Brown & Gold with 17 points each, while Walker totaled a career-high 15 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Deja Wimby scored 15 while leading the team with five assists, and Leighah-Amori Wool added 13 points. 

WMU recorded 10 three-point field goals, which stands as the third-straight game the Broncos tallied double-digit field goals from beyond the arc. Western Michigan converted a season-high 34 field goals, efficiently shooting at 53.1 percent. In addition, WMU out-rebounded BGSU 38-37 and outscored the Falcons in the paint, 40-34. 

Both teams came out firing in the first quarter, converting 10 field goals each. WMU opened the game hot from long-range, converting 4-of-7 three-point field goals, two from Leighah Wool, to take a 16-14 lead at the first media timeout. A long three by Meredith Miller with four second lefts on the game clock gave the Broncos a 27-25 advantage heading into the second frame.

Play slowed down in the second quarter for the Broncos as they shot 28.6 percent from the field compared to a 58.8 percent mark in the first. BGSU took its first lead since the end of the first frame with a three-pointer with 5:09 left in the half, leading into an 11-1 run to take a 45-35 lead into the intermission.

In the second half, the Broncos shot an impressive 60.6 percent from the field (20-of-33), outscoring Bowling Green 49-37 in the final 20 minutes to overcome the 10-point deficit. 

WMU opened the third quarter strongly on a 15-2 run, capped off by two consecutive baskets from Wool to force a Falcon timeout four minutes in with a 50-47 lead. However, it was back-and-forth the the remainder of the contest, as the second half alone saw nine lead changes.  

Up by two at 64-62 heading into the fourth quarter, the Brown & Gold maintained its lead until the Falcons tied the game several times and took an 80-79 lead with 2:10 remaining. Soon after, Nina Farkic found Walker down low for a layup to put WMU up 81-80 and the Broncos held on for the remainder of time to secure the win. 

"It was a game of runs," Clipfell commented. "We had 19 turnovers but we rebounded better than I thought we probably could against them, so maybe those two canceled each other out. Three games in a row with double-digit makes from the arc - that's what this team needs to go to gives us a chance and today it worked out."

Yesterday was fun. Check out some of the ??? highlights from our MAC opening victory at Bowling Green. #WeWillReign pic.twitter.com/3haUjdaIOy

— WMU Women's BBall (@WMU_WBB) January 6, 2019

Game Notes

• With 15 points and one steal, Deja Wimby eclipses 900 points and 200 steals in her career
  • Wimby exited the game due to an injury near the end of the third quarter.
• WMU's 84 points and 34 field goals made are both season-highs 
• WMU totaled double-digit three-pointers for the third consecutive game
• Jasmyn Walker notched her second double-double of the season (third career) with a season-high 17 points and career-high 15 rebounds
• Kamrin Reed's four steals are a career-high 
• The wins marks the 10th consecutive victory over Bowling Green
• Shane Clipfell moved into third place in all-time coaching wins at WMU. His 105 career wins in his seventh season at the helm passes Jim Hess' (1982-90) career wins total. 

Up Next
Western Michigan (7-5, 1-0 MAC) returns to University Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 9, hosting Akron at 7 p.m.