KENOSHA, Wis. – The Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team used 29 points from bench players and went 19-22 (.864) from the charity stripe to come away with a 75-72 road win over Carthage at Tarble Arena on Saturday, Jan. 30.
 
IWU stays in a tie for first place atop the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 7-2 conference record and improved to 12-8 overall while the Lady Reds dropped their third straight decision to fall to 7-13 overall and 3-6 in conference.
 
The Titans found themselves in an early hole before fighting back to trail by a score of 13-12 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 31-27 at halftime. A 29-point third quarter effort would give IWU a 56-54 lead heading into the final period which saw the Titans hang on for the three-point victory.
 
Neither team built a lead larger than seven points in the game that featured five lead changes, with the final lead change coming at 2:52 mark left in the third quarter.
 
Freshman Maddie Merritt led IWU with 17 points and nine rebounds, falling just short of recording her second double-double of the season. Sophomore Rebekah Ehresman finished with 15 points and six rebounds while junior Shelby Gray added nine points off the bench coming from a four-of-five shooting performance from the field.
 
"Our second half defensive play was much better than the first," said IWU head coach Mia Smith in a WJBC postgame interview. "We made some adjustments to our press at halftime." Smith was impressed with the play she got off the bench. "I think Sierra Leggett played an outstanding game against Carthage, who is a very good team on their own court."

Carthage freshman Bailey Gilbert scored a game-high 21 points while Morgan Harris had 13 points.
 
The Titans outrebounded the Lady Reds by a 39-34 margin and gained 16 points off of 20 Carthage turnovers. IWU shot only 13.3 percent (2-15) from beyond the arc compared to 10-26 (38.5) for Carthage.
 
What's Next?
The Titans take the short trip south to Decatur, Ill. for a weeknight conference game at Millikin on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The Big Blue remain winless in the CCIW following a 70-62 road loss at Elmhurst on Saturday night. Earlier this season, Illinois Wesleyan forced 31 turnovers while running away with a 77-54 victory over Millikin in Bloomington.