KALAMAZOO – The Western Michigan women’s basketball team had a trio score in double figures, forced 22 turnovers and outscored Washington’s bench, 39-16, but it was not enough to pull out a victory as Western Michigan fell to the Huskies, 71-63, on Tuesday night at University Arena.

The Broncos trailed by only a point heading into the halftime break and tied the game at the 17:15 mark on a pair of Ebony Cleary free throws, but an 8-0 run by Washington early in the second half put WMU in catch-up mode for the rest of the game.  Cleary led the Broncos offensively with 14 points, and on the glass, with eight rebounds.

Taylor Manley, who had 11 points off the bench, scored the game’s first3-pointer to bring WMU to within five points, 34-29.  Despite a three-point answer from UW’s Sami Whitcomb, the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, Western clawed its way back.
The Broncos chipped the Huskies lead down to one possession eight times, cutting the deficit down to three points three times, down to two points four times and down to a single point once at 48-47 when Kemmy Dominique the second of her two treys on the night at the 7:40 mark.

Unfortunately for WMU, it would be one of only three field goals made down the stretch as Washington scored the game’s next 12 points to take its largest lead of the game, 13 points, on a Kristi Kingma free throw.

Both teams had their time and opportunities at the free throw line, especially in the second half as 27 of the game’s 42 personal fouls were committed over the final 20 minutes.  WMU made 24 of its 34 trips to the foul line in the second half, while UW made 21 of its 25 in the final frame.  In fact, 12 of the Broncos final 16 points came from the charity stripe.  Miame Giden scored six of her 11 points at the free throw line.

Both the Broncos and Huskies battled through turnovers in the first half.  Washington committed 17 turnovers, which turned into 12 WMU points in the first 20 minutes.  The Broncos committed 15 turnovers of their own but found themselves trailing by only a point as the two teams went to the break.

Cleary poured in a team high eight points, in just seven minutes on the court, on a pair of field goals from close range and four made free throws on as many attempts.

For the second game in a row, the Broncos bench provided an offensive spark.  The Broncos outscored the Huskies, 14-1, and finished the game by besting the Huskies reserves by a 23-point margin. Washington answered by scoring 28 points off 22 Western Michigan turnovers.

Washington also had three players in double figures led by Whitcomb and Mackenzie Argens, who poured in 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with a team-best eight rebounds. Kingma had a game-best four steals to go along with her 10 points.