KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan women's basketball team defeated Northern Illinois University 63-50 on Saturday, Feb. 29 inside University Arena, completing a season sweep of the Huskies.
After a heartbreaking loss to Mid-American Conference West Division foe Central Michigan, the Broncos came up with a key victory with just two games left until postseason play begins. Western Michigan shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the field with a 32.1 percent mark (9-of-28) from long range, holding the Huskies to just 29.8 percent shooting overall.
A strong defensive showing saw the Broncos outrebounding NIU 39-36. The Broncos notched 28 points in the paint and six points off Northern Illinois turnovers in a back-and-forth game that saw four ties and a season-high 20 lead changes for the two teams.
Redshirt sophomore
Jordan Walker dominated for the Brown & Gold. The guard tallied a career-high 33 points, capped off by a three-point shot in the final seconds of the game to break her record. Walker shot 7-for-11 from long range, the most of any Bronco so far this season and another career high, replacing her record of five earned in 2018. Fellow starter
Leighah-Amori Wool scored 10 points with seven rebounds, adding three assists and making all of her shots from the charity stripe. Freshman
Sydney Shafer poured in 10 points off the bench, shooting 2-for-6 from long range.
It was a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the Huskies take a 20-16 lead into the second frame. After the Broncos scored first with a jumper from Wool and a three-point shot from Walker, NIU fought back with a pair of threes of its own. Northern Illinois shot 50 percent (4-for-8) in the first frame, which would end up being its highest-scoring quarter of the contest. Points from Wool and
Breanna Mobley and another three from Walker cut the deficit to four heading into the second frame.
Western Michigan quickly took back the lead with back-to-back points from Walker to go up 21-20. Despite the Broncos outscoring NIU 19-15, the game continued to stay tight as the Huskies put up a late 7-0 run. A three from Shafer and a buzzer-beating layup from Mobley tied things up at 35-35 heading into the break. Walker put up eight of WMU's 19 points in the quarter.
Western Michigan jumped out to a 5-0 run to start the third, with points from Mobley and Wool. Both teams were in foul trouble in the third quarter, collecting 11 total. The Broncos were 6-for-8 (75 percent) from the line. Walker made a pair of threes in the quarter to tie, and eventually break, her career-high in three-point field goals.
The Broncos held a one-point lead heading into the final frame, but quickly found their footing. Starting out with a 7-0 run, WMU ended up scoring 16 points while holding the Huskies just two field goals in the quarter. Walker put up 10 more points en route to her career high, while Wool and Shafer earned their double-digit numbers as Wool contributed with a jumper and Shafer sunk her second three-pointer. The game ended on back-to-back threes from Shafer and Walker to secure the 63-50 victory.
Western Michigan (16-11, 9-7 MAC) heads to Ypsilanti on March 4 for its final road game of the regular season, against in-state rival Eastern Michigan. Tipoff Wednesday night is scheduled for 7 p.m.
#WeWillReign
