Box Score

MONTCLAIR, N.J. - Illinois Wesleyan rallied from as far back as 16 points to force overtime before losing to No. 21 Salisbury University, 57-51, in the first round of the Sheraton Parsippany Holiday Tournament on Sunday, Dec. 28 at the Panzer Athletic Center in Montclair, N.J.

The loss sends the IWU record to 6-4 while Salisbury improved to 9-0.
 
Sophomore Gabrielle Holness, who led IWU with 19 points, connected on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 45-45 with 32 seconds left after a steal by freshman Rebekah Ehresman. Both teams committed turnovers late and a final shot by Salisbury was no good in regulation. IWU's only six points in the overtime session came on a pair of 3-pointers by Ehresman.
 
In the second half, IWU outscored Salisbury 28-15 and battled back to get within three at 32-29 with 11:17 remaining and were also within three at 45-42 with 38 seconds left before Holness' 3-pointer.
 
The Titans trailed 30-17 at the half and shot only .219 from the field (7 of 32) in the first period, making only one of seven from 3-point range. IWU and Salisbury were tied at 7-7 with 14:32 to play before Salisbury went on a 12-0 run to claim a 19-7 lead.

IWU made only six of 21 free throw attempts in the game and were outrebounded 55-49 despite a game-high and career-best 14 boards from senior Kasey Reaber. IWU, who led only once in the game at 3-2 just 89 seconds into the contest, made a season-best 18 steals and committed only 14 turnovers, tying a season-low.

TITAN TIP-INS: Illinois Wesleyan played without starting freshman guard Molly McGraw, whose flu symptoms prevented her from making the New Jersey trip ... The last IWU overtime game was exactly one year ago today (Dec. 28, 2013) in a 93-87 win over Howard Payne in San Antonio, Texas ... This is the first overtime loss for an IWU team since Jan. 24, 2004 (77-70 at home to Wheaton) ... IWU is now 1-1 all-time vs. Salisbury.
 
Illinois Wesleyan Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .274 (20 of 73)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .208 (5 of 24)
Free Throw Percentage - .286 (6 of 21)
Holness (19 points)
Ehresman (9 points, 6 steals)
Kasey Reaber (8 points, career-high 14 rebounds)
Sophomore Alina Lehocky (6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals)
 
Salisbury Statistics and Leaders
Field Goal Percentage - .327 (17 of 52)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage - .300 (3 of 10)
Free Throw Percentage - .606 (20 of 33)
Sarah Seipp (18 points, 9 rebounds)
Anna Hackett (14 points, 5 rebounds)
Julia McLaughlin (9 points, 9 rebounds)
 
Who's Next?
The Titans will play Baruch (4-4) in the third place game at 1 p.m. ET on Monday. Baruch was a 72-62 loser to No. 7-ranked Montclair State (11-0) in the first Sunday tournament game. Montclair will play Salisbury in the championship at 3 p.m. ET ... The Titans have a 2-0 lead in the series vs. Baruch (75-70 in 2010 and 74-58 in 2005).