Omaha women's late rally falls short against Western Illinois
OMAHA — Western Illinois turned a seven-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead in the third quarter, then held off a late Omaha push for a 57–54 win Monday night at Baxter Arena.
Omaha led 27–20 at the break. Western Illinois scored the first six points of the third quarter, and Madison Davis made two free throws with 7:34 left in the period to give the Leathernecks a 30–29 lead they never gave up. They outscored Omaha 26–9 in the quarter. The Leathernecks made 11 of 12 free throws in the third quarter, while Omaha went 3-for-11 from the field and missed all four of its 3-point tries. Western Illinois led 46–36 entering the fourth.
Mya Skoff led the comeback attempt. She scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers, and her layup with 50 seconds left cut the lead to 55–52. Jade Brown's layup pulled Omaha within a point with 14 seconds to go, but Madison Davis scored on a layup for the final margin. Omaha missed two 3-point attempts in the last five seconds.
Omaha struggled from 3-point range, making 5 of 29 3-pointers and shooting 32% overall. The Mavericks outrebounded Western Illinois 43–39 and had 14 offensive rebounds, which produced nine second-chance points to the Leathernecks' two, but they also had 14 turnovers to Western Illinois' 10.
Olsen added 10 points, and Halle Dolliver had nine points and five rebounds. Avril Smith had five points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Mia Nicastro and Davis each scored 18 points for Western Illinois. Nicastro made all six of her free throws and grabbed eight rebounds, and Davis had nine rebounds.
Omaha is 1–2, and Western Illinois is 2–1. The crowd was 876.
The Mavericks host Drake at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at Baxter Arena, billed by the team as Fan Appreciation Night. Ticket prices were not stated on the schedule; tickets are sold through Omaha Athletics.
Source: Omaha Athletics: official box score, Western Illinois at Omaha, Nov. 9, 2026 and the Omaha women's basketball schedule.
How we checked this: Reported from Omaha Athletics' official box score and play-by-play for Western Illinois at Omaha and the team's schedule and roster, opened Nov. 9, 2026, at 9:08–9:10 p.m. CT, and checked against the record by our copy desk before publishing.