VALPARAISO, Ind. – Despite 16 points and eight rebounds from redshirt senior
Reilly Jacobson, the Western Michigan women's basketball team fell to Valparaiso, 75-51 on Saturday afternoon inside the ARC at Homer Drew Court.
Jacobson scored 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and was a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the three-point line. The Waukee, Iowa native also corralled a career-high eight rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
Behind Jacobson in scoring was sophomore
Sydney Shafer with 12 points. Shafer was just 2-of-12 from the field but was 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. Shafer's seven made free-throws was a career-best while also having three rebounds, one block and one steal.
Off the bench freshman
Lauren Ross led the way with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. Along with Ross, redshirt junior
Abby Voss registered seven points followed by freshman
Megan Wagner with five points. Wagner ranked second on the team with five rebounds.
As a team the Broncos shot 25.5 percent from the field and was 4-of-19 from long distance. At the free-throw line Western Michigan was 21-of-35. WMU was out rebounded by Valparaiso, 41-34 but held a 10-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The
Broncos forced Valparaiso to commit 17 turnovers on Saturday afternoon, scoring 19 points off of Crusader mistakes.
With the setback Western Michigan now has an overall record of 1-2 and 0-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
It was a slow start for the Broncos as the Crusaders jumped out an 11-1 lead just five minutes into the game. After a lay-up by Ross cut the Bronco deficit down to seven with 1:40 remaining, Valparaiso went on a 5-0 run to earn an 18-7 lead after the first quarter of play.
The Crusaders raced out of the gate to begin the second quarter embarking on a 13-0 run to propel their lead to 23. Valparaiso led by as many as 26 in the second quarter as the Broncos trailed 38-15 heading into the locker room.
In the third quarter both teams traded baskets as four of WMU's first seven points in the third came from the free-throw line. Western Michigan made its first field goal of the quarter when
Reilly Jacobson knocked down a three off a Valpo Turnover to trim the lead down to 47-24. Down the stretch in the third quarter, WMU and Valpo traded baskets en route to a 63-33 lead for the Crusaders.
The Broncos outscored Valparaiso 18-12 in the fourth quarter with WMU storming out of the gate with a quick 5-0 run. It ultimately ended up being a 9-3 run for the Broncos that shrunk the deficit down to 23 with 6:51 remaining in the game. That was as close as WMU got in the fourth quarter as Valparaiso pulled away near the end to secure the 75-51 victory.
