By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

Western Illinois was one of 25 NCAA Division I women’s basketball teams to not have anyone enter the transfer portal after last season.

It says everything, coach JD Gravina said, about the culture of the program, and it played a big role in the Leathernecks winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles and earning the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“You have a great group of seniors that are good leaders,” Gravina said after Saturday’s 71-65 win over Lindenwood in the conference tournament championship game. “You have a staff that works hard, that are just pouring their emotional resources into these kids. They’re treated well by the community, the faculty, the entire university. So that’s just huge for us, and that’s why we’re able to accomplish what we did.”

The Leathernecks went 17-17 last season, reaching the second round of the WNIT, and brought back four starters — All-OVC first-teamers Raegan McCowan and Mia Nicastro along with Addi Brownfield and Allie Meadows. Freshman guard Madison Davis, who played 542 minutes, came back, as did guard Kaylen Reed, who was a big part of the rotation for seven games before suffering a season-ending injury. None of them entered the portal last spring  — McCowan did after her freshman year in 2024, but decided to return to the Leathernecks.

Those six, along with Mallory Shetley, a fifth-year transfer who came in from Columbia College, made up the Leathernecks’ rotation until McCowan went down with what proved to be a season-ending injury in the December 18 conference opener at Lindenwood.

“You lose any one of those players after last season, and we don’t accomplish what we accomplished this season, especially after Raegan got hurt,” Gravina said. “That experience made a big difference.”

The rotation that carried the Leathernecks through the rest of the season — Shetley, Meadows, Brownfield, Nicastro and Reed as starters and Davis coming off the bench — has a combined 18,067 minutes of experience heading into the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s unbelievable how much of a difference that makes,” Gravina said. “Especially in this age of people coming and going.”

Gravina nodded toward the back of the press conference room after Saturday’s win, pointing out Brownfield and Meadows, who have been in the program for four years.

“There’s two people back here that honestly started this journey, and we talked about that when it happened,” Gravina said. “And they have just been the absolute perfect role players, and just the fact that they’re standing back there just says everything about the type of players they are — willing to play their role, accepting their big role, and wanting what’s best for the team.”

“Addi and I have had a blast here from our freshman year on,” said Meadows, who played 415 minutes as a reserve in her first season and has started every game since. “This has always been a dream, and the fact that we could get it is just amazing.”

“Me and Allie, coming in as little ol’ freshmen and working our way to this point, it’s something not a lot of people can say that they’ve done,” said Brownfield, who has started 108 games. “So I’m just so proud of how far we’ve come, and it’s just truly been a special senior season.”

Meadows credited Gravina with building a culture of longevity.

“JD is not one to just get in the transfer portal when he needs something else,” she said. “We do a really good job here of developing our freshmen, and that’s not what you see at programs anymore. You see grad transfers everywhere. So I just have so much respect for him and the coaching staff and their willingness to just coach girls up from the beginning.”

Gravina hasn’t had to go deep into the transfer portal, but found success when he got Nicastro last season from Saint Louis and Shetley this season. Nicastro, fourth in the nation in scoring this season, was the OVC’s player of the year, while Shetley was named the conference tournament’s most valuable player.

The team Gravina will take to the NCAA Tournament will be one full of experience.

“Every kid comes in thinking they can do this and they don’t realize how difficult it is, not everyone can win a championship,” he said. “It’s so difficult. Obviously, Western Illinois is a great place, but it presents some challenges. So, just being able to get people that will commit to it, to stick together, and then to play at that high level, it’s really been fun to see.”

Photo: Western Illinois coach JD Gravina talks to his team during a timeout in a game earlier this season. (WIU Athletic Communications)