BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Trailing by two at halftime (41-39), the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team was outscored 27-10 in the third quarter and lost a 92-69 decision to defending national champion Thomas More at the Shirk Center on Wednesday, Dec. 30.

The Titans slipped to 5-6 overall and the Saints won for the 42nd straight time and are 9-0 this season.

Thomas More shot a blistering 72.4 percent in the second half, making 21 of 29 from the floor, while the Titans managed just 24.3 percent from the field in the final two quarters (9-of-27). Thomas More went on a 17-2 scoring run to open the second half.

"We came out in the third quarter and took terrible shots, shots that we had no chance of making," IWU head coach Mia Smith told The Pantagraph's Bruce Yentes in a postgame interview. "That's more opportunities for the opponent and they capitalized on it when we didn't get back on defense."

IWU sophomore Rebekah Ehresman led IWU with 19 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Molly McGraw added 13 points.The Titans and Saints were tied at 23 after one period and IWU held a six point lead at 20-14 with 3:04 left in the first. The score was tied five times and there were eight lead changes in the game.

Thomas More senior Sydney Moss poured in 37 points, the highest ever for an IWU opponent at the Shirk Center. The Shirk record is 39 by IWU's Sara Seebruch against North Central on Jan. 16, 1999.
Moss, the two-time national Division III player of the year, nailed nine 3-pointers in 15 tries, had 11 rebounds, all defensive, and contributed seven assists.
Nikki Kiernan scored 26 points with nine rebounds with 14 of her points coming in the pivotal third quarter. Kirsten Paul came off the bench to go 5-for-5 from the field for 10 points.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan opens College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play with a game at Elmhurst College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 2. The Bluejays are 6-5 heading into CCIW play ... 5-11 sophomore forward Mikaela Eppard leads the Bluejays with 16.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game ... The teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum in free throw shooting among CCIW squads - Elmhurst leads the league with a .753 percentage (165 of 219) and IWU is eighth at .618 (141 of 228) ... Illinois Wesleyan has a 48-15 lead in the overall series against Elmhurst but the Bluejays prevailed twice last season - winning on their home court 86-61 on Jan. 24, and winning in Bloomington, 82-75, on Feb. 21.