YPSILANTI, Mich. – Despite having four players in double figures the Western Michigan women's basketball team was unable to defeat Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Eagles 68-58 on the road. 
 
WMU had a quartet of players score in double figures, led by Hannah Spitzley with 12 points. Spitzley was 3-for-8 from the field against Eastern Michigan and ranked second on the team with four rebounds. The junior guard was 2-of-4 from deep, a perfect 4-for-4 from the line, led WMU with eight boards, and added two assists, one steal, and one block. 
 
Behind Spitzley were Taylor Williams and Maddie Watters each tied at 10 points. Williams went 4-for-16 from the field and 50 percent from the line with 2-for-4 free throws while adding seven rebounds and three blocks. Watters went 3-for-5 from the field, 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, and 1-for-2 in free throws. She tallied six rebounds, one assist, and one steal. 
 
Rounding out the quartet of scoring off the bench was junior guard Megan Wagner tied with Williams and Spitzley at 10 points. Wagner was 3-for-5 from the field and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line. The Mason, Ohio, native registered one rebound and one assist in 20 minutes of play. 
 
It was an all-around effort from the Broncos on Saturday night as Lauren Audino added nine points from the bench, Abby Voss added three points and Gabi Saxman and Alli Carlson each added two points. 
 
WMU shot 34.5 percent from the field compared to Eastern Michigan's 41.7 percent shooting/ The Broncos were 7-for-24 from long distance and were narrowly outrebounded 45--32. EMU held the advantage in board offensive and defensive boards. WMU forced the Eagles to commit 13 turnovers, scoring 11 points off of EMU's mistakes. Eastern Michigan on the other hand, forced 12 Western Michigan turnovers to earn a total of 15 turnover points. The Broncos registered 24 points in the paint and 21 points from the bench on the day. 

The Broncos started with a strong lead in the first, holding a 17-9 advantage over the Eagles. Western Michigan shot 30 percent from the field and drained four of its nine attempts from deep. Williams started the scoring with a two-point jumper in the paint, followed by a made three-pointer by Watters the next time down the court. Audino would sub in minutes later to hit WMU's second three-pointer of the game with 7:12 left to play. Watters would then add two more three-point jumpers to make a 10-point lead in the first. 
 
The script would flip in the second as EMU took the scoring reigns totaling 22 points in the second to hold a 16-point advantage over the Broncos. WMU trailed 31-23 heading into the locker room with Western Michigan holding the Eagles to just two points in the final two minutes of the second quarter.
 
In the third quarter, the two teams combined to score 32 points as WMU outscored Eastern Michigan 17-15. The Broncos added eight points from the paint and five points from the bench. Western Michigan shot 6-for-16 from the field, 3-for-4 from the line, and grabbed nine boards. The Broncos proved their ball control in the third with zero turnovers.
 
At 46-42, EMU would start the final stretch in the lead to only finish victorious over Western Michigan. Both the WMU and Eastern Michigan offenses came out on first as the two teams combined for 40 points in the fourth. Despite shooting 7-for-10 from the line, the Broncos would come up short to the Eagles and scored its last couple of buckets from the line to make 68-58 in the dropped contest with EMU.
 
The Broncos head home to University where they welcome Toledo on Wednesday, Feb. 15 followed by Bowling Green State University on Saturday, Feb. 18. Wednesday's tilt is set for 7 pm featuring WMU's Play4Kay Pink Game and Saturday's noon contest features a doubleheader with men's basketball and Alumni Day. 
 
Wednesday and Saturday's contests will be available for streaming via ESPN+. To purchase tickets to any Western Michigan women's basketball home game this season, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets or call 1-888-4-WMUTIX.