Box Score

WHITEWATER, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team lost for the first time this season, falling 80-72 at Wisconsin-Whitewater on Wednesday (Nov. 23).

The Titans, who were ranked No. 17 in the preseason, are 2-1 this year while the Warhawks, who were No. 21, are 3-1.

The game was tied at 28-28 at halftime and the Warhawks went on a 9-2 run in the first 2:04 of the final period to take a 37-30 lead with 17:56 left.

But the Titans battled back to get a 52-50 lead after consecutive 3-pointers by junior Melissa Gardner (at 9:33 left) and senior Olivia Lett (with 9:09 left).

Junior Michelle Bilek hit two free throws with 3:08 remaining to give IWU a 66-63 lead but the Warhawks took advantage of IWU missed shots and turnovers to run off 11 straight points and grab a 74-66 lead with 49 seconds left.

Lett scored 26 points to lead the Titans while Gardner provided 16. Senior Brittany Hasselbring scored 12 and senior Amy Burton had 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Illinois Wesleyan made 22 of 52 from the field (.423) and connected on six of 24 3-point free tries (.250) while making 22 of 24 free throws (.917).

The Titans committed 23 turnovers compared to 26 for Whitewater and the Warhawks held a slim 30-28 rebounding lead in the win.

The Warhawks were led by the 21-point efforts from Kaityn Thill and Chantel Burg, who also had eight rebounds. As a team Whitewater shot .563 (27 of 48) from the field and made 10 of 19 (.526) from beyond the 3-point arc. Whitewater made 16 of 23 free throws (.696).

The Titans will play No. 10-ranked DePauw at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 26) in the first day of the Thanksgiving Classic at Washington U. The other Saturday game has No. 7-ranked host school against Hendrix.
The consolation game will be at 1 p.m. with the championship at 3 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 27).