Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. - Trailing by 19 points with just over 6 minutes to play, the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team closed to within three late but fell short in losing 66-62 to Wheaton College at King Arena in Wheaton, Ill., on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

•  Illinois Wesleyan fell to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the No. 33-ranked Thunder won for the sixth straight time and improved to 10-1 overall and 1-0 in the league.

•  Junior Colleen McMahon scored a career-high 25 points and had 13 points of IWU's 22 points in the final 6:15. The Thunder led at that point 59-40, but IWU outscored Wheaton 22-7 the rest of the way, getting as close as 65-62 after a 3-pointer by Katy Seibring with 48 seconds left. Wheaton held a 31-24 lead at halftime and never trailed in the second half.

•  The Titans shot 30.9 percent from the field (21 of 68) and made 7 of 26 3-point efforts (26.9). IWU continued to excel from the free throw line, going 13 of 15 (86.7 percent). The Thunder finished at 46.4 percent from the field (26 of 56) and made 12 of 20 free throws (60.0). Wheaton was 2 of 14 from beyond the 3-point stripe (14.3).

•  Wheaton outrebounded Illinois Wesleyan, 48-36, and the Thunder admitted to 26 turnovers compared to 18 for Illinois Wesleyan. Wheaton outscored IWU, 40-16, in the paint as the Titans played for the fourth straight game without junior center Shelby Jackson, who is out indefinitely after suffering from an infected wisdom tooth.

Illinois Wesleyan Statistics Leaders
Junior Colleen McMahon (25 points)
Senior Michelle Bilek (11 points, 7 rebounds)
Freshman Kaitlyn Mullarkey (7 rebounds)

Wheaton Statistics Leaders
Brooke Olson (16 points)
Maris Hovee (15 rebounds)
Hannah Considine (12 points, 10 rebounds)
Jenn Lee (12 points)

Who's Next?
The Titans will play at 5 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 5) against CCIW opponent Elmhurst at the Shirk Center. The Bluejays are 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the league after a 97-88 win over North Central on Jan. 2.