KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan women's basketball picked up a rivalry win this afternoon inside University Arena, handling the Central Michigan Chippewas (4-23, 2-16 MAC) by a final score of 68-49. The win moves WMU to 15-12 on the season, and 9-9 in Mid-American Conference play.

The Broncos dominated the game from start to finish, getting off on an 8-0 run to kick off the contest beginning with a layup from redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Williams off a feed from redshirt senior forward Reilly Jacobson. At the end of one, Western Michigan held a 23-12 lead as three different Broncos tallied six first-quarter points.

Period number two was much of the same, with WMU winning the second 10 minutes by a 17-13 margin. Sophomore guard Hannah Spitzley had an efficient quarter, scoring seven points in the second alone while fellow sophomore guard Lauren Ross added five points to the Western Michigan cause. The Broncos entered the locker room with the score leaning in their favor, 40-25. Lauren Ross led all scorers at the half with 11 points on 4-6 (66.7 percent) from the field, while Reilly Jacobson did a little bit of everything, posting eight points, seven rebounds, and four assists at the break.

The Broncos essentially duplicated the second quarter coming out of the locker room, winning the third stanza by a 17-14 edge. Five different members of the Western Michigan team contributed points in the quarter, led by six points and a pair of rebounds from Jacobson. The WMU defense was dialed in as well, holding Central Michigan to just 35.3 percent shooting over the 10-minute stretch.

Western Michigan closed things out in the fourth quarter, maintaining their lead and winning the final period by a slight 11-10 advantage. Jacobson was the high scorer in the fourth as well, knocking down a triple and a pair of free throws to help the Broncos clinch a senior day victory in front of their home fans.

Reilly Jacobson led the way in all three major categories for her team this afternoon, posting her fourth double-double of the year with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists during her 25 minutes on the court. Jacobson knocked down 5-7 shots (71.4 percent) from the field, including 3-4 from beyond the arc, and was a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe. Lauren Ross added 16 points and two rebounds on 5-10 shooting and 4-7 (57.1 percent) from deep, while Hannah Spitzley finished with nine points of her own on 4-6 shooting, as well as four rebounds.

As a team, the Broncos connected on 22-52 shot attempts (42.3 percent), and 12-27 (44.4 percent) from three-point territory. WMU was strong defensively as well, holding CMU to under 50 points for the second time this season on 35.1 percent from the field and just 15.4 percent from deep. Western Michigan also scored 18 points off of CMU miscues, spread the wealth for a whopping 19 team assists, and received a 16-point boost from the Bronco reserves.

When asked about her strong performance on senior day, forward Reilly Jacobson said it was nice to find her rhythm on the floor again after returning from injury: "It was really good to get back into my groove. I feel like during my first few games back, I was trying to work back into my scoring, playing defense, and playing with my teammates again. So [today's game] felt very good."

Head coach Shane Clipfell was proud of his team for their performance this afternoon as well, placing a large amount of importance on the hot shooting night: "Clearly what we needed to see was the ball go through the net from the arc with some form of consistency, and it did. When that started happening, I think you could see the confidence start to grow." Coach Clipfell was especially appreciative of the circumstances of today's outing as well: "We could have chosen to do [senior day recognition] against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, but we knew we'd have a nice crowd here for this game and we wanted to try and make it as special as we could for those three kids going out. When you can get a win over an arch rival and recognize your seniors on the same day, that's a pretty good day."

Western Michigan now turns their attention to other in-state conference foe Eastern Michigan, who comes into Kalamazoo on Wednesday. Tip-off inside University Arena on March 2 against the EMU Eagles is set for 7 p.m. and will be available for streaming via ESPN+/ESPN3. Students get into all Western Michigan home games for free with a valid Bronco ID and further ticket information www.wmubroncos.com/tickets, or by calling 1-888-4-WMU-TIX. We will see you back in The Zoo on Wednesday night!

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