The Western Illinois University women’s basketball team is back in the dance.
The Leathernecks defeated Lindenwood University 71-65 Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. to capture the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Western advances to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
It will be WIU’s third appearance. It’s other trip was in 1995.
“It’s such a special occasion and such a special group,” said WIU coach JD Gravina. “It’s one of those things that I almost can’t believe we actually did it.”
“People have no idea how hard it is to play at that level for a whole season and win yourself into the number one seed and then still show up (for the tournament),” he added. “We had such a battle (against SEMO in the semifinals) and found a way to pull it out.”
“It felt a little bit like fate, a little bit like destiny,” said Gravina. “It was like these kids just weren’t going to lose.”
“This is such a special and talented group of girls that are all such good people and good basketball players that deserve this,” said WIU forward Mia Nicastro. “We’ve earned this.”
“I thought (WIU) punched us in the mouth from the beginning and never let up,” said Lindenwood coach Amy Eagan. “I thought we had some really good runs at them, and then they had an answer every single time.”
Though WIU led wireto- wire, the third meeting between the league’s top two teams was more like a highwire act in the final minutes.
Unlike its previous meeting against the Lions, a 50-49 loss in Macomb back on Feb. 28, Western bolted from the gate Saturday.
Buoyed by 75 percent shooting (9-of-12), the Leathernecks raced out to a 20-12 lead after the first quarter.
Mallory Shetley (eight points) and Allie Meadows (seven points) led the early surge.
WIU shot 50 percent in the second period (6-of-12) building as much as a 16-point lead. Western ended up outscoring Lindenwood 16-11 in taking a 36-22 halftime advantage.
But the Lions, whose win at Macomb forced a tie at the top for the regular season title, did not go away.
Lindenwood chipped away in the third period.
Ellie Brueggemann knocked down three 3-pointers, while Gracie Kelsey also scored nine points. The Lions outscored the Leathernecks 28-18, closing the gap to 54-50 entering the final 10 minutes.
The drama was just beginning.
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Nicastro, the OVC Player of the Year went down with an injured ankle with eight minutes and 32 seconds remaining.
“At first I was a little bit worried and obviously in a lot of pain,” admitted Nicastro. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep playing.”
“I stood up and I think the adrenaline helped a little bit,” she added. “I just got a ton of tape on there, some Biofreeze on it and popped some Tylenol.”
“I was coming off the court and I told JD that I was going to finish this game,” Nicastro said. “I wasn’t going to sit on the bench and watch my team need me and me not being out there for them.”
Sure enough, at the 6:46 mark, Nicastro checked back in and did not leave the floor again.
“She had to be helped off the court and I could see how much it was hurting,” said Gravina. “But her coming back, I think was, and I hate to be cliché, but it was heroic, just with the emotional lift she gave us.”
“It was such a good emotional moment for our entire team and I think it helped calm us,” he added. “It gave us that extra push. It was such an emotional lift. It almost had a movie feel.”
But there was still work to be done for the Leathernecks.
Lindenwood got a threepoint play from Kelsey and later Aleshia Jones had a three-point play followed by a layup that got the Lions within 59-58 with 5:31 remaining.
But baskets by Shetley and Nicastro pushed the WIU lead to six and Lindenwood got no closer than four down the stretch.
Lindenwood was held to one point in the final minutes until Brueggemann hit two desperation 3-pointers in the final 25 seconds.
WIU shot just 4-for-13 from the field in the fourth quarter, but the team made eight of its 10 free throws. Nicastro was a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 73 seconds.
Shetley’s final basket came with 57 seconds left on a fast break.
Racing toward the basket, Madison Davis threw a behind the back pass to Shetley for the layup and a 67-59 lead.
“It was just an absolute awesome dagger,” said Gravina of Davis’s pass to Shetley. “And Mia sealed the game with her free throws.”
Nicastro recorded her second consecutive tournament double-double, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
“This is something that we dreamed of since we set foot on the campus in the summer,” said Nicastro. “We all knew that this team was capable of it. But it was about being able to make it happen; trying to turn a dream into reality.”
Shetley, who was named OVC Tournament Most Valuable Player, added 18 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
“I just want to do whatever it takes for our team to win,” said Shetley. “Whether it’s scoring, setting a good screen, making a good pass, whatever we need.”
“It’s a weird feeling when all of your dreams have become reality,” she added. “It’s really special.”
Davis and Meadows each scored 10 points for Western Illinois (26-5). Davis added four rebounds and two assists, while Meadows chipped in four rebounds and three assists.
Addi Brownfield and Kaylen Reed added six points apiece. Brownfield had five rebounds and five assists, while Reed added four rebounds and two steals.
“It was just a great team effort,” said Gravina. “I’m just so proud of this team.”
Brueggemann scored 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from 3-point range to lead Lindenwood (25-8).
Jones added 18 points and Kelsey 14 for the Lions, who lost in the championship game for the second year in a row.
The announced attendance for the game was 922, including many Western fans who made the 300-plus mile trip to Evansville.
“I think it’s worth saying, if you look at our community, they showed up for this game,” said Gravina. “We are six hours away from Evansville and we had a huge crowd.”
“It’s just really fun to do it for our community and our university,” he added.
“I’m excited to keep playing basketball for these next couple of weeks,” said Nicastro. “Our season’s not over, and that’s an exciting feeling in March when a lot of seasons are ending.”
“This has been our goal from the beginning,” added Shetley. “We worked hard all season for this. It means the world to be here.”
WIU will find out its NCAA destination on Mar. 15 when the tournament pairings are announced.
