ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team came back from 14 points down to close to within four in the final period, but finished on the losing end of an 83-73 decision at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
The Titans, who had a five-game winning streak end, are now 10-6 overall and slipped out of first place in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 5-2 record. Augustana improves 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the CCIW, tied for first with Wheaton (12-3, 6-1 CCIW). The Thunder was an 85-42 winner at North Park Wednesday.
Illinois Wesleyan trailed 42-34 at halftime and was behind 63-49 after three quarters. The Titans went on a 15-5 run to close to within four points at 68-64 with 4:44 to play. IWU was also down four at 70-66 with 4:09 remaining before the Vikings churned out a 6-0 run to claim a 10-point lead at the 2:33 mark and IWU never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Junior
Molly McGraw led all scorers with 24 points while junior
Rebekah Ehresman added 16 points and snagged a game-high 11 rebounds. Sophomores
Maddie Merritt and
Nina Anderson contributed 13 points each.
McGraw, who had 12 points in the final quarter, became the 21st player in IWU history to surpass the 1,000-point mark with her 3-pointer with 6:00 to play in the game. She now has 1,004 points in 66 games, tied for 20th all-time at the school with Ann Considine (1984-88, 83 games).
Izzy Anderson came off the bench to lead Augie with 15 points as the Vikings got 45 points from non-starters compared to 17 for Illinois Wesleyan. Augustana also converted 18 Titan turnovers into 25 points while the Titans forced 19 turnovers and collected 19 points from those.
IWU shot .355 from the floor (27-of-76), made 8-of 23 3-pointers (.348) and 11-of 14 from the free throw line (.786). The Vikings shot .418 from the field (28 of 67) with 6-of-12 coming from 3-point territory. The Vikings made 21 of 32 free throws (.656). Augustana outrebounded IWU, 52-45, with the 52 rebounds a season-high for an opponent this season. Illinois Wesleyan had eight blocked shots and Augie had seven blocked shots with four coming from 6-foot-5 Kaycee Kallenberg.
What's Next?
The Titans will play at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis., at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21 ... Carroll is 1-14 overall and 1-6 in the conference after a 90-49 home court loss to Elmhurst on Wednesday ... The Pioneers were in the CCIW until leaving after the 1991-92 season and has a 14-0 all-time record against Illinois Wesleyan ... The schools last met in the 2007 NCAA Division III tournament as Carroll won a first round game, 86-59.
