YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball team led for almost half the game in its 59-54 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

The Broncos brought high-pressure defense to keep the Eastern Michigan offense from finding any rhythm on Saturday afternoon. WMU's defense forced 21 turnovers from the Eagles for the second-most forced of the season. Three members of the Brown and Gold roster ended the game in double figures, led by sophomore guard Kailey Starks. Starks had a team-high 19 points while redshirt senior forward De'Ahna Richardson added 13 and senior guard Alli Carlson had 10 points for Western Michigan.

The game began with turnovers for both teams as the offenses struggled to get going. It was Eastern Michigan who got the first points of the afternoon. But the Broncos quickly add eight with two threes to force an early timeout from the Eagles. WMU defense held EMU scoreless for three minutes and 40 seconds to take its first lead of the game. But the Brown and Gold didn't score after the timeout, and the game was tied with 3:20 left on the clock. Eastern Michigan took over the lead right under the three-minute mark after a technical foul from sophomore forward D'Myjah Bolds. Western Michigan was shutout for over five minutes in the quarter until junior guard Nile Muguira Orbe sank a driving layup with under a minute on the clock. The Broncos tied up the game before the end of the first, but the Eagles hit a last-second basket to lead by two.

Both offenses had a slow start to the second quarter. While EMU had the first points of the frame, WMU quickly shut down Eastern's offense for four minutes. In that time, the Brown and Gold added 12 points to take an eight-point lead, with five points from both Carlson and Starks. The Eagles got back within three on a five-point run, but Western Michigan put three points together in the final 40 seconds for a 28-22 halftime lead.

It was a back-and-forth game early in the second half as the teams traded baskets. EMU had two short runs that put the Broncos behind briefly. A tip-in layup from Richardson put WMU back in front by a point with a little under three minutes to go. The Brown and Gold scored the next two baskets and added a free throw for good measure to have a 41-37 lead before the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started much like the third with back-and-forth scoring. Eastern Michigan had the first run of the final frame, taking a two-point lead on seven straight points. Starks made back-to-back buckets for Western Michigan to put the Broncos back in the driver's seat. WMU didn't surrender the lead for the rest of the game, getting up to a six-point advantage twice in the final two minutes. The Brown and Gold added two points in the final minute, securing the 59-54 victory.

Western Michigan shot 22-of-58 from the floor for 37.9% and were just under that in three-point play at 8-of-25 attempts (32.0%). The Broncos' best quarter of the afternoon came in the fourth as they went 6-of-10 for 60% shooting. On defense, WMU matched the Eagles 34 rebounds, with Carlson having her first double double of the season to lead the Brown and Gold with 10 boards. Western Michigan also had its best ball control of the season inside George Gervin GameAbove Center with only 10 turnovers.

The Broncos remain on the road for their next game. WMU makes the trip to Athens, Ohio, to take on the Bobcats on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Tip-off from the Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening.