In future years, the 202526 Western Illinois University women’s basketball team will be remembered for reaching its destination of the NCAA Tournament.
But perhaps even moreso, the Leathernecks will be remembered for the journey they traveled and how they were embraced by the Macomb community along the way.
The Leathernecks saw their season end Friday evening at Chapel Hill, N.C. as WIU lost to host North Carolina 82-51 in an NCAA opening round contest at Carmichael Arena in front of a crowd of 2,390.
“It’s a special three weeks for the team, then it all builds up to the game,” said WIU coach JD Gravina.
“But that three weeks will be some of the best memories I’ve ever had in my career, especially with this team and this group.”
“I’ve never been a part of anything like this in my life,” said WIU senior Mia Nicastro. “This is truly a family.
You don’t have that at every school.”
“I’m just really honored to have been able to wear ‘Western Illinois’ across my chest for the past two years,” she added. “Just being able to experience everything with this team, accomplishing all of our goals and doing what basically every mid-major team dreams of is just the most special and unique feeling. There’s nothing that can really replicate that.”
For Addi Brownfield and Allie Meadows, who have been with the program since they were freshmen, reaching the NCAA Tournament was a long-time goal.
“Those three weeks have been a dream since I was a little girl,” said Meadows.
“Being able to do it with my best friends, the coach of my dreams and his family, and all our community behind us has been truly just the number one goal I’ve had since I was little.”
“It gets a little emotional to think about,” said Brownfield, fighting back tears. “It’s just meant so much to me.
Coming in as a freshman, at times it felt impossible to get to this point.”
“We’ve built connections that are going to last a lifetime,” she added. “Just seeing how proud our community is of us and how proud we are of each other is so special. It’s something I’m definitely going to remember the rest of my life.”
As for the game, North Carolina’s athleticism proved to be too much for the Leathernecks to overcome.
“It kind of went like you hope it doesn’t, but you prepare for,” said Gravina. “Their athleticism was just too much for us.”
“Defensively, we tried to swarm around the basket. We did force them to take 40 threes and they only made 10 of those. I thought that was a small victory. But they were just too good around the basket and too good defensively.”
Western led only once at 2-1 following a Mallory Shetley basket at the 8:47 mark of the opening period.
A layup by Nicastro at the 3:40 mark left WIU trailing 9-8. But the Leathernecks went more than seven minutes without a field goal.
By the time Nicastro scored at the 6:20 mark of the second period, WIU trailed 24-13.
The Leathernecks got as close as 27-20 following a pair of Nicastro free throws with 3:18 remaining before halftime.
But the Tar Heels closed the half on an 11-4 run in building a 38-24 halftime advantage.
North Carolina then put the game away in the third frame, outscoring WIU 20-9 to lead 58-33 heading into the final 10 minutes.
“I thought we were really scrappy,” said Nicastro. “I thought we fought hard, even though we were outsized at pretty much every position.”
“When that’s the case, you have to fight,” she added. “You’ve got to be scrappy and get those 50-50 balls and fight for steals. I thought we did that.”
UNC had 13 more shot attempts than WIU (6956) and also had 13 more baskets (30-17).
While the Tar Heels finished 10-of-40 from 3-point range, they were also 20-of-29 from 2-point range.
The Leathernecks finished just 2-of-15 from 3-point range and 17-of-56 overall.
“I think we did a great job defensively,” said Brownfield. “Unfortunately, offensively, we couldn’t quite get going.”
Nicastro led WIU with 21 points and nine rebounds. But she was the only Leatherneck player to reach double figures.
WIU went 15-of-20 from the free throw line and scored 15 points off UNC turnovers.
“I thought we played hard the whole game and it was nice to get everyone in the game to get them that experience,” said Gravina.
“I told the team in the locker room our community and our university, they really needed this,” he added. “It just really uplifted us as a group. That makes me really proud.”
Nyla Harris led four UNC players in double figures with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
In NCAA second round play Sunday afternoon, North Carolina defeated Maryland 74-66 in reaching the Sweet 16.
The boxscore from Friday’s game can be found at the following link: https:// goleathernecks.com/ sports/womens-basketball/ stats/2025-26/ university-of-north-carolina/boxscore/ 14685
