YPSILANTI, Mich. – Western Michigan women's basketball collected a nice road victory tonight over Eastern Michigan by a final score of 62-57. The win is the fifth on the road this season, and third in the conference thus far for the Broncos.

The first quarter swayed to the advantage of the Eagles (4-8, 1-4 MAC), who held a 16-10 edge at the end of the game's opening period. Four different Broncos found different ways to score in the initial 10 minutes, led by a pair of buckets from redshirt senior forward Reilly Jacobson.

The second period was much better for Western Michigan (9-4, 3-1 MAC), who outscored EMU 24-16. Sophomore guard Megan Wagner was crucial for the Broncos in the second 10 minutes, scoring eight points on 3-6 shooting and pulling down a pair of rebounds. Wagner finished the half with 11 points on 4-7 from the field, and led all scorers for either team at the break.

The Broncos came out of the locker room with defense at the forefront of their attention, and held the Eagles to just six third quarter points. The fourth quarter of play began with the score dead even at 38, and the game's final period echoed the same sentiments as the second, with WMU outscoring Eastern Michigan 24-19. As the contest neared its last remaining media break, junior guard Sydney Shafer knocked down a big shot from deep to force an Eagle timeout and break the tie to put her team up three. Following the huddles, Shafer set up down low and took a critical charge to give the ball right back to the Broncos.

After the Eagles got a tying three to fall, WMU got off on an 8-0 run for some separation as sophomore guard Lauren Ross drew fouls on two consecutive possessions and drained all four free throws. Following the success from the charity stripe, the Bronco forced an EMU turnover that led to Ross's fifth and sixth straight points and put WMU up by six before redshirt senior forward Reilly Jacobson capped off the run via a layup with 2:09 remaining. In total, Ross finished with 10 fourth-quarter points and flexed her clutch gene, going a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in the final period. Despite multiple comeback efforts from Eastern Michigan, the Broncos were able to keep the Eagles at bay and clinch an important road win after an 11-day hiatus.

As a team, Western Michigan led the game in points off turnovers (13), paint points (28), fast break points (12), and points off the bench (16), in addition to leading in field goal percentage (39.6 percent), three-point percentage (33.3 percent), and free throw percentage (82.4 percent). Defensively, the Broncos held Eastern Michigan, who entered the outing shooting 35.9 percent from three-point range, to just five made threes at a clip of 20 percent for the evening. WMU also had six different players post steals in the contest.

For the game, WMU was led by Lauren Ross, who finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists for her second double-double of the season, as well as her career. Megan Wagner also had a great game for Western Michigan, posting a season-high 12 points on 4-9 shooting, as well as four boards and a trio of assists. Reilly Jacobson added 10 points for the Broncos, in addition to three rebounds and a pair of dimes during her time on the court. Sydney Shafer rounded out the double figure efforts for WMU with 10 points on 4-8 shooting, and 2-4 from behind the arc.

The Broncos will hit the road again for their next outing, this time venturing to Oxford, Ohio for a battle with the Miami RedHawks. Tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 22 is set for 1 p.m. and will be available for streaming via ESPN3.

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