Box Score

Photo Gallery (photos by Claire's Photography)

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In a fast-paced game, the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team couldn't keep up with No. 24-ranked North Central, falling by a 96-81 score at the Shirk Center on Saturday, Feb. 7.

In the 8th annual "Pink Zone" game to raise money for the local Community Cancer Center, the Titans fall to 9-13 overall and 3-8 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Cardinals are 20-2 overall and 9-2 in league play with their only two losses to CCIW first place holder Wheaton.

IWU jumped out to a string start, leading by their largest margin of seven at 14-7 with 15:35 to play in the first half. But the Cardinals, the highest-scoring Division III team in the nation, outscored IWU, 12-4 to take a 19-18 edge at the 11:33 mark. The first half had four ties and three lead changes and North Central took a 43-37 lead into the locker room.

The Titans battled to force eight lead changes and four more ties in the second half before North Central took the lead for good at 67-66 with 9:15 remaining. A 12-2 run put the Cardinals on top 79-68 with 6:57 and their largest lead came with 43 seconds to go at 96-81, which was the final.

Illinois Wesleyan outrebounded North Central, 45-43, but the Titans admitted to 25 turnovers compared to 20 for the Cardinals.

ILLINOIS WESLEYAN STATISTICS, LEADERS
Field Goal Percentage – .435 (30 of 69)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – .125 (1 of 8)
Free Throw Percentage – .645 (20 of 31)
Molly McGraw (23 points, 4 rebounds) - McGraw also won the high jump at IWU's Keck DIII Select meet, scoring 10 points for the team
Kasey Reaber (16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists)
Samantha Ellsworth (11 points, game-high 8 rebounds)
Rebekah Ehresman (10 points, 6 rebounds)

NORTH CENTRAL STATISTICS, LEADERS
Field Goal Percentage – .451 (32 of 71)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage – .333 (13 of 39)
Free Throw Percentage – .731 (19 of 26)
Tess Godhart (24 points, 6 rebounds)
Corinne Rowe (17 points)
Therese Petterson (14 points)
Jamie Cuny (6 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks)

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Titans travel to Rock Island on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match against Augustana.