Josie Hill dropped 21 points,
Jacia Cunningham and Tae'Lor Willard added 14 each, and
Taylor Norris tallied 10 for the Cougars in an 86-72 women's basketball loss at Western Illinois on Tuesday night.
First Quarter - Western Illinois 20, Chicago State 11
? The Leathernecks jumped out to a 5-0 lead
? The Cougars managed to cut the lead after two free throws from Cunningham reaching a 5-2 score
? Both teams then hit back to back deuces resulting in a 7-4 score
? Western Illinois then went on to hold the Cougars to only seven points to their 13, which had them up by nine after the first with a 20-11 score
Second Quarter - Western Illinois 38, Chicago State 23
? The Leathernecks again opened up the scoring, this time with a trey to go up 23-11
? Chicago State answered with two free throws from Simmons resulting in a 10 point deficit at 23-13
? Both teams then went on to trade several buckets, however, Western Illinois remained in the lead at the break with a 38-23 score
Third Quarter - Western Illinois 68, Chicago State 40
? Western Illinois opened up with yet another 5-0 run to increase their lead to 43-23
? Chicago State were able to retaliate with a run of their own at 4-0 with buckets from Willard and Hill, yet still trailed 43-27
? This trend continued as the Cougars looked to dig into the Leathernecks' lead yet would not be able to get stops, leading to a comfortable lead at 68-40
Fourth Quarter - Western Illinois 86, Chicago State 72
? Much like in the previous quarters, Western Illinois dominated early as they amounted a 73-46 lead which forced a Cougars timeout with seven minutes remaining
? Coming out of the timeout, the Cougars enacted a 26-13 run to finish off the game featuring buckets from Cunningham, Willard, Carter, Hill, and Simmons
? Despite the late effort, the Leathernecks early high scoring kept them in the lead as the Cougars fell short with an 86-72 score
The Cougars will return to the court on Thursday, November 30 at Illinois State at 6:30 p.m.
