Western Illinois Up Next for Women's Basketball

Game Notes I Live Stats I Listen I Watch

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The IPFW women's basketball team will put their four-game winning streak on the line this Thursday night with a road game at Western Illinois. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Waste Management Court at Western Hall.

ABOUT IPFW
The Mastodons have won six of their last seven games as they enter the final weekend of the regular season. The team sits in fourth place in the Summit League standings with South Dakota State, IUPUI, and South Dakota all placed in front of them.

IPFW has been great from the free throw line this season, shooting 79 percent from the stripe. The 'Dons have made 105 free throws in their last seven games compared to just 61 from their opponents. IPFW is shooting 80 percent during that span.

3-point shooting is another key factor that has led to IPFW's success. The 'Dons average seven 3-point field goals per game and have hit 52 in their last seven games compared to just 33 from the opposing bench. Those two elements of the game along with being +3.7 in the turnover battle has IPFW 4-1 during the month of February.

SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS
Western Illinois is 12-15 overall with a 5-9 mark in the Summit League. The Leathernecks have won two of their last four league games after going on a five-game losing streak. WIU defeated NDSU 55-50 on Feb. 14 and took down Kansas City 63-38 on Feb. 23. The team most recently lost at South Dakota 71-67 on Feb. 23.

Saule Kontautaite leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, but the high level of play from Ashley Luke has the Leathernecks headed in the right direction. Luke recently earned her second consecutive Summit League Player of the Week honor on Monday as she averaged a double-double in two road games last week. Luke scored a season-high 20 points while pulling down 11 boards at Kansas City and followed that performance with a 16 point, 10 rebound day at South Dakota. On the year she is averaging 10 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Western Illinois is a second half team as they have outscored their opponents 920-860 in the final 20 minutes of play throughout the regular season. The team shoots 39 percent from the field, 32 percent from distance and 65 percent from the charity stripe.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The series between IPFW and Western Illinois originally started once the Mastodons joined the Summit League during the 2007-08 season. IPFW holds an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series as the team split during the 2007-08 season, the 2009-10 season, and most recently a year ago during the 2011-12 season.

IPFW won the first ever meeting over Western Illinois 69-57. The game was played in Macomb on Jan. 28, 2008. The Leathernecks got revenge by defeating IPFW later in the year 71-61. The 08-09 season was a clean sweep for IPFW, but Western Illinois took a 58-55 overtime win over IPFW in 2009-10. The 'Dons had won the previous matchup that season by the final score of 62-46. Another sweep took place in 10-11 with IPFW recording 86-74 and 73-54 wins over Western Illinois.

LAST TIME OUT
Rachel Mauk and Amanda Hyde each scored 22 points on Saturday afternoon as the Mastodons defeated Oakland 87-71. IPFW hit 10 3-point field goals against the Golden Grizzlies to improve to 12-14 on the year including an 8-6 mark in the Summit League.

Hyde recorded 22 points by hitting all 11 of her free throw attempts and Mauk dropped a career-high 22 by hitting a career-high five 3-point field goals. Hyde chipped in with four rebounds, four assists and four steals in 35 minutes of action.

Haley Seibert and Erin Murphy also picked up the scoring load as the Mastodons scored a season-high 87 points which was seven points better than their total vs. Western Illinois earlier this season at the Gates Sports Center.

Seibert shot 3-for-3 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to net 15 points. The point guard also came up big with a career-high eight rebounds and five assists. Murphy made four field goals and hit all six of her free throw attempts to end the game with 14 points.

IPFW posted high shooting percentages in every facet of the ballgame hitting 49 percent from the field, 45 percent from distance and 95 percent from the free throw line. The 'Dons were 23-of-24 from the line.

1,000 POINT WATCH
Amanda Hyde now has 947 career points as a Mastodon. She has put together a great season by doubling her points per game average from a year ago (19.2 2012-13 / 9.5 2011-12). Hyde is leading the Summit League in scoring which has not been done by an IPFW player since the 2007-08 season when Johnna Lewis-Carlisle averaged 19.5 ppg.

IPFW VS WESTERN ILLINOIS GAME RECAP – DEC. 30
IPFW picked up their first Summit League win of the season by defeating Western Illinois by the final score of 80-49. Amanda Hyde Erin Murphy and Stefanie Mauk combined to score 63 of IPFW's 80 points.

Hyde scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting while also adding a team-high eight rebounds and six assists. Murphy scored 21 points and Mauk added 17 helping IPFW defeat Western Illinois.

Mauk went 5-for-6 from the three point line and also grabbed six rebounds for IPFW. Murphy shot a great percentage ending the game 7-for-11.

IPFW held a 35-20 advantage at the half. The Mastodons shot 40 percent from the field, including 43 percent from three point range. Erin Murphy jumped into the starting lineup for the first time this season and responded by scoring 14 first half points.

Full court pressure bothered Western Illinois as the Leathernecks committed 21 turnovers. IPFW turned those mistakes into points as the 'Dons scored 24 points off Leatherneck miscues. The 'Dons shot 52 percent from 3-point range and also won the points in the paint battle 28-12.

SUMMIT LEAGUE LEADER
Junior Amanda Hyde leads the Summit League and is 27th in the nation with a scoring average of 19.2 points per game. She most recently scored 22 points at Oakland.

3-POINT SHOOTING
The Mastodons average seven 3-point field goals per game. That average is the second-best in the Summit League, and is 27th best in the NCAA. Western Illinois leads the Summit League with 7.5 made 3-point field goals per game, and Creighton is the top team in the country at 9.5.

FREEBIES
Amanda Hyde is shooting 87.1 percent from the free throw line this season making her the second best free throw shooter in the Summit League. The junior has made 135 of her 155 attempts on the season. She currently holds the 17th best percentage in the NCAA.

IPFW is currently ranked second in the nation with a team free throw percentage of 79.3 Utah State leads the NCAA by knocking down 80.4 percent of their free throw attempts.

UP NEXT
IPFW will end the 2012-13 regular season with a game at IUPUI on Saturday, March 2.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Western Illinois Up Next for Women's Basketball

Next Event

Related Videos