After trailing by 17 points early in the second half, the Western Illinois women's basketball team rallied to within three points, but fell short of a comeback victory against North Dakota State, 52-46 Saturday, in Summit League action at the Bison Sports Arena.
The Westerwinds (4-11, 2-2 Summit League) pulled within three points at 48-45 with 1:31 left to play after a pair of free throws from junior Jordon O'Brien.
After forcing a North Dakota State (6-7, 4-1 Summit League) turnover by Jerri Penley, senior Amanda Walker had a chance to bring Western within one point but couldn't convert a mid-range jumper.
O'Brien would follow up with a steal from Inger Hodgson with 34 seconds left to play, but would have a short jump shot roll off the rim on the other side of the floor.
The Bison would answer with a pair of free throws by Jill Zaruba to push their lead to five points, 50-45, with 23 seconds remaining.
Senior Nicole Myers would hit one of two free throws with 14 seconds on the clock, but a pair of free throws from Hodgson would seal the game for North Dakota State at 52-46.
Western held the Bison without a field goal for the final 8:11 of the game, but would come up short.
"We finally started to play like we are capable of," said Western head coach Leslie Crane. "The first 10 minutes was the difference in the game. If we would have played the first 10 minutes of the game like we did in the last 30 minutes, it would have been a whole different story here tonight. We just couldn't get over the hump with 1:05 left. We didn't have a lot of turnovers, but we had some very crucial ones."
The Westerwinds only lead of the game came after junior Katy Clark hit a jumper with 18:28 left in the first half, giving Western a 2-0 lead.
North Dakota State followed with a 13-2 run that lasted nearly seven minutes and was capped off by a Zaruba jumper.
After the Bison pushed its lead to 14 points, Clark answered with a three-pointer with 5:18 left in the first half to bring the Westerwinds within 11 at 22-11. A pair of free throws from Hodgson would give North Dakota State a 26-13 lead heading into the break.
The two teams would trade baskets for the first five minutes of the second half until Western rallied off a 9-0 run to bring the lead to single digits at 32-24, capped off by a Myers layup with 12:12.
A pair of Katie Birkel free throws pushed the Bison lead back to 11 with 9:20 left in the game. Clark would score six of the Westerwinds' next eight points to pull them within four points at 45-41 with just under four minutes left to play.
Clark led Western in scoring for the third straight game, scoring 13 points on 5-of-11 (45.6 percent) shooting from the floor. Freshman Katie Horsman chipped in nine points and freshman Lyndi Thorman added six while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds, a career high. Senior Amanda Walker had a career-high five steals.
The Westerwinds out-rebounded North Dakota State 36-31, including a 15-6 advantage on the offensive boards. Western rebounded from shooting 19.4 percent (6-of-31) in the first half to shoot 42.3 percent (11-of-26) in the second half.
"We won the rebounding battle and had less turnovers. You're suppose to win those games," said Crane. "But when you have as rough of a first 10 minutes as we did tonight, it makes it hard for us to win the game."
North Dakota State was led by Hodgson, who scored 17 points, hitting 7-of-8 shots from the charity stripe. Whitney Trecker added a career-high 13 points.
Clark and Trecker were named the players of the game for the 3rd Annual Katherine Burgum Classic.
The Westerwinds remain on the road for another Summit League match-up against South Dakota State today. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at The Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D.