Western Illinois takes on SIU-Edwardsville following Nicastro’s 23-point performance

SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (7-3, 1-0 OVC) at Western Illinois Leathernecks (9-1, 1-0 OVC)

Macomb, Illinois; Monday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Western Illinois hosts SIU-Edwardsville after Mia Nicastro scored 23 points in Western Illinois’ 74-65 win against the Lindenwood (MO) Lions.

The Leathernecks are 6-0 in home games. Western Illinois leads the OVC averaging 83.2 points and is shooting 46.6%.

The Cougars are 1-0 in conference play. SIU-Edwardsville is the OVC leader with 25.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Syanne Mohamed averaging 5.0.

Western Illinois averages 83.2 points, 25.9 more per game than the 57.3 SIU-Edwardsville allows. SIU-Edwardsville averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.9 more makes per game than Western Illinois gives up.

The Leathernecks and Cougars meet Monday for the first time in OVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nicastro is scoring 22.8 points per game and averaging 10.4 rebounds for the Leathernecks. Raegan McCowan is averaging 17.0 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 47.8%.

Macy Silvey is shooting 37.5% from beyond the arc with 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Cougars, while averaging 10.3 points. Kiyoko Proctor is averaging 14.3 points and 1.7 steals.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.