Box Score Illinois Wesleyan 83, Simpson 53 - Box Score, March 6

NCAA Division III Interactive Bracket

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team advanced to the final 16 for the second straight season with a convincing 83-53 victory over Simpson on March 6 at the Shirk Center.

The 28-1 Titans will play Wis.-Stevens Point on Friday, March 12, at a site to be determined Sunday. The Pointers (23-6) were 71-58 winners over St. Norbert on March 6. The Titans defeated Wis.-Stevens Point, 84-80, on Nov. 28 at the Shirk Center, and ousted the Pointers from the 2009 NCAA tournament with a 77-64 win last March 13.
The other sectional game at the site will feature Hope vs. Marymount (Va.). Hope (29-1) defeated DePauw, 68-54, while Marymount (28-1) downed Medaille (Pa.) by a 74-44 score.
The combined record of the four teams in the sectional is 108-9.

Against Simpson, Illinois Wesleyan junior Hope Schulte scored 22 points as she was eight-for-11 from the field and made four-of-five 3-pointers. Senior Christina Solari scored 14 points and snared seven rebounds and sophomore Olivia Lett came off the bench to score 10 points and get team-highs with eight rebounds and six assists.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 39 percent from the field in the game (24 of 61) and limited the Storm to 35 percent field goal shooting (20 of 57). The Titans managed only nine of 34 from the field in the first half (.265) but still held a commanding 32-16 lead as Simpson could only shoot at a .208 clip (five of 24) in the first 20 minutes.
IWU easily won the rebounding war, 49-32, and forced 18 turnovers while admitting to only 14.
The Titans, who had 17 assists on their 24 baskets, connected on 10 of 27 3-point efforts (.370) and made seven steals.

Simpson's season ends with a 23-6 record. The Storm got 11 points each from Katie Kitzman and Stacey Schutjer while Ali Sokol came off the bench to score nine points and get eight boards.