Photo Gallery, IWU vs.North Central (photos by Claire Hoverson '17)

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team held North Central to its lowest offensive output of the season and forced 42 turnovers in a 78-66 win at the Shirk Center on Saturday, Jan. 16.

The Titans improved to 9-7 overall and 4-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, tied for first place in the league with North Park, a 63-47 winner over Millikin on Saturday. North Central slipped to 8-8 overall this year and 2-3 in the league.

The Cardinals came into the game averaging a national-best 95.9 points per game but the 66 against Illinois Wesleyan was their season low. The previous low was one week ago against Wheaton. The 42 turnovers was also a season most in a game for North Central. Illinois Wesleyan was guilty of 29 turnovers, also a season-most.

Sophomore Molly McGraw led IWU with 21 points and freshman Maddie Merritt connected on all 10 of her free throw tries en route to scoring 18. Merritt and sophomore Rebekah Ehresman each snared seven rebounds as IWU outrebounded the Cardinals, 51-45. Ehresman also tallied 16 points.
Junior Amanda Kelly donated a career-high six assists and grabbed seven rebounds while also making five steals, tying a career best.

The Cardinals were led by the 12 points off the bench from Therese Petterson. Jamie Cuny had a game-high eight rebounds.

The game was tied seven times and there were seven lead changes. North Central rallied from as many as 14 behind in the second period and were seven down at 40-33 with 9:15 in the third quarter before tying the game at 40-40. The game was tied for the last time at 51-51 late in the third and IWU outscored North Central 25-15 in the final period to claim the victory.

What's Next?
After three straight home games, the Titans play at Augustana on Wednesday, Jan. 20 with a 7 p.m. tipoff in Rock Island, Ill. ... Augustana is 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the CCIW after a 56-51 win on the road against Carthage Saturday ... The Vikings' other conference win was at home against preseason CCIW favorite Wheaton, 59-56, on Jan. 2 ... Illinois Wesleyan has a 39-32 lead in the overall series against Augustana.