KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team defeated University of Toledo 41-38 Wednesday evening. In the victory, head coach Shane Clipfell tied Fran Ebert (1967-82) for the most wins in program history with 179. Tonight also marked his 250th career win in his head coaching career. To lead the way offensively, graduate student Hannah Spitzley scored a game-high 14 points and tied her career high with seven steals to pace WMU.

During the first quarter of Wednesday's contest, The Brown and Gold scored eight points. After a layup from Alli Carlson and a three-pointer by Hannah Spitzley, the Broncos raced off to an early 5-2 lead. With 1:48 remaining in the first, Sptizley would hit her second three-pointer of the quarter to propel WMU to an 8-7 advantage. At the end of the first, the Broncos trailed the Rockets 9-8.

After a layup from Lauren Audino and a three-pointer by Marina Asensio, the Broncos tied the contest up at 13 all.  At the conclusion of the half, behind a layup from Artemis Kouki, a free throw from Audino, and a layup by Carlson, WMU had tied the contest up at 20 all. The Broncos closed out the first half with a 5-2 advantage heading into the break.

During the third quarter, WMU scored 11 points and limited Toledo to a game-low eight points. After a three-pointer from the Rockets, graduate student Megan Wagner scored a fastbreak three-pointer and Asensio made a jumper to put the Broncos ahead 29-26 in the closing minute of the quarter. In the final moments of the third, Spitzley made a buzzer-beating layup to propel WMU to a 31-28 lead.

In the fourth and final quarter, the Broncos continued their defensive dominance and limited Toledo to 10 points. After a layup from Spitzley and a free throw from Carlson, WMU raced off to a four-point advantage. With three minutes remaining in the contest, the Broncos continued to stay aggressive and built a seven-point lead after free throws from Asensio, Audino, and Spitzley.   

After a 5-0 run by the Rockets, Asensio made a pair of free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining in the quarter, to secure the Bronco victory.

Historical Notes

Spitzley improved her career steals total to 170 after posting the fifth most steals in a single game from a Bronco with seven. Her 170 career swipes are ranked 11th all-time in program history. From beyond the three-point line, the guard improved her three-point total to 107, which is tied for the 13th most threes by a Bronco all-time. 

The Brown and Gold will clash with Kent State on the road, Wednesday, January 1 at 1:00 PM on ESPN+