2008 Woodie Awards
Road trip starts on high note
Ryan Ferguson
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Sports
Junior forward Katy Davenport was back in the starting lineup Saturday afternoon at IPFW, and she made every one of her 32 minutes on the floor count in Western Illinois' 71-61 victory.
After coming off the bench in the Westerwinds' (14-13, 12-4 Summit League) previous two contests, Davenport scored a team-high 18 points. The starting five scored 55 of Western's 71 points.
Led by Davenport's 70 percent shooting performance (7-of-10), the 'Winds shot nearly 60 percent in the game compared to IPFW's (10-16, 7-8 Summit) 36.8 percent. The difference in shooting percentages led to the Western road victory.
"It feels good to come into this environment and get us a win," said coach Leslie Crane. "The team kept their focus and did what they needed to do. We executed our sets and got the shots that we wanted to get."
Sophomore guard Jordon O'Brien was Western's second leading scorer with 13 points, including the first five points of the game. She was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field (2-for-2 from beyond the 3-point line) and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe.
The 'Winds converted on nearly 90 percent of their free throws (16-of-18) compared to IPFW's 66.7 percent (14-of-21). Western used its success at the free-throw line to close out the Mastodons and keep two games out of first place in the conference standings (South Dakota State).
"We played like the team that should have played in Macomb," Crane said. "We were aggressive to the bucket, and we were aggressive on defense today."
Western held a six-point lead with 3:45 remaining in the game and held on to that lead without notching a single field goal after that point. Instead, the 'Winds went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line while holding IPFW to five points in the game's final minutes.
"(IPFW was) 4-for-7 in the first half from beyond the 3-point line, but they only made one in the second half," Crane said. "Our defense picked up, and we got hands in their faces."
The 'Winds continue their three-game road trip Monday night in Rochester, Mich., taking on Oakland (16-9, 9-6 Summit). The Golden Grizzlies were 72-46 victors when these two teams met at Western Hall on Jan. 26.
Tip-off for Monday night's action is set for 6 p.m.
-Western Illinois University Athletics Media Services contributed to this article
After coming off the bench in the Westerwinds' (14-13, 12-4 Summit League) previous two contests, Davenport scored a team-high 18 points. The starting five scored 55 of Western's 71 points.
Led by Davenport's 70 percent shooting performance (7-of-10), the 'Winds shot nearly 60 percent in the game compared to IPFW's (10-16, 7-8 Summit) 36.8 percent. The difference in shooting percentages led to the Western road victory.
"It feels good to come into this environment and get us a win," said coach Leslie Crane. "The team kept their focus and did what they needed to do. We executed our sets and got the shots that we wanted to get."
Sophomore guard Jordon O'Brien was Western's second leading scorer with 13 points, including the first five points of the game. She was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field (2-for-2 from beyond the 3-point line) and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe.
The 'Winds converted on nearly 90 percent of their free throws (16-of-18) compared to IPFW's 66.7 percent (14-of-21). Western used its success at the free-throw line to close out the Mastodons and keep two games out of first place in the conference standings (South Dakota State).
"We played like the team that should have played in Macomb," Crane said. "We were aggressive to the bucket, and we were aggressive on defense today."
Western held a six-point lead with 3:45 remaining in the game and held on to that lead without notching a single field goal after that point. Instead, the 'Winds went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line while holding IPFW to five points in the game's final minutes.
"(IPFW was) 4-for-7 in the first half from beyond the 3-point line, but they only made one in the second half," Crane said. "Our defense picked up, and we got hands in their faces."
The 'Winds continue their three-game road trip Monday night in Rochester, Mich., taking on Oakland (16-9, 9-6 Summit). The Golden Grizzlies were 72-46 victors when these two teams met at Western Hall on Jan. 26.
Tip-off for Monday night's action is set for 6 p.m.
-Western Illinois University Athletics Media Services contributed to this article
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