Box Score (PDF)

MACOMB, Ill. – In a game that saw both teams score a combined 189 points, the North Dakota State University women's basketball team fell to Western Illinois, 100-89, in front of 904 spectators at Western Hall in Macomb on Thursday, Feb. 25.

North Dakota State (7-21, 2-13 Summit League) is scheduled to conclude the regular season at IPFW (6-22, 2-13 Summit League) on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET).

Sophomore Taylor Thunstedt scored 30 points to lead the Bison in scoring, while junior Emily Spier netted a career-high 27 points on a career-best 12-of-13 shooting from the field. Senior Marena Whittle rounded out the NDSU players in double figures, notching her team-high 13th double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

The Bison shot 46 percent from the field, including a 36 percent effort from three-point range, but were outrebounded in the game, 43-40.

North Dakota State led Western Illinois (15-13, 8-7 Summit League) at the half, 48-42, after outscoring the Leathernecks in the second quarter, 34-26. Thunstedt led the offensive surge for NDSU, scoring 21 of her 26 first-half points in the stanza.

Paced by senior Michelle Maher's 27 second-half points, Western Illinois outscored the Bison in the final 20 minutes, 58-41, to secure the comeback win.

Maher finished the contest with a Western Illinois single-game record 41 points on 14-of-19 shooting from the floor, while senior Sophie Reichelt added a double-double with 27 points and 10 boards.

WIU shot 51 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc in the contest and posted a 42-40 edge in points in the paint.