BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team had its seven-game winning streak snapped in an 89-86 "Seniors' Night" loss to North Central at the Shirk Center on Saturday, Feb. 18.

The Titans are 17-7 overall and 12-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Cardinals, the highest-scoring team in Division III, improved to 13-11 overall and 7-8 in the league.

The Titans led at halftime 40-38 and the game was tied at 62-62 after three quarters. The game was tied for the 10th time at 80-80 before two layups by Natali Dimitrova put the Cardinals ahead 84-80 and they led the remainder of the contest.

Sophomore Maddie Merritt led the Titans with 22 points while junior Rebekah Ehresman scored 16 and junior Molly McGraw and freshman Sydney Shanks chipped in 14 each. The 14 for Shanks is a career-best.

Ehresman had a game-high and career-high 14 rebounds as IWU outrebounded the Cardinals 53-52. McGraw's nine rebounds was also a career-high.

Fourteen players scored for the Cardinals, led by 16 from Paula Zerante. North Central, who also leads the country in 3-pointers per game, sniped in 15 3-point field goals in 43 attempts as the Titans managed five of 10 from beyond the arc.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan ends its regular season with a game at Wheaton College on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The Thunder are 20-4 overall and 13-2 in the CCIW after a 102-37 pasting of Carroll on Saturday ... IWU, Wheaton, Elmhurst and Augustana have secured berths in the conference tournament next weekend. Go here for the tiebreaker scenarios.