WHEATON, Ill. - With a 63-62 victory over Elmhurst College on Friday, Feb. 24, the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team advanced to the final of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin postseason tournament.

Aiming for its seventh CCIW tournament title and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III tournament, the Titans (18-8) will face No. 1-seed Wheaton College (22-4), a 96-66 winner over No. 4-seed Augustana in Friday's other semifinal. The Bluejays, who slipped to 19-7 with the loss, will be hoping for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament Monday.

In just her fourth start of the season, freshman Sydney Shanks led the Titans with a career-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Shanks added three rebounds, two blocks, and two steals to her final tally.

After a closely-contested first half, the teams headed to their locker rooms knotted up at 38 points apiece. The first half featured seven lead changes, with five coming in the second quarter. Junior Rebekah Ehresman led the Titans with nine points in the first half. IWU was touched up for 10 first half points from Mikaela Eppard, but held the rest of the Bluejay offense to 5-of-16 (.312) shooting.

The third quarter played out similarly to each of the previous two as teams exchanged leads nine times over a 10 minute span. With the Titans trailing by two, senior Brittney Reaber changed the momentum of the quarter, going 2-of-2 from the line and collecting a steal on the defensive end which set up a pair of free-throws from senior Gabby Weber. Sophomore Nina Anderson gave the Titans a one point lead heading into the fourth by knocking in a 3-pointer with 40 seconds to play.

IWU opened the final quarter on a 9-2 run, giving the Titans an eight point lead over the Bluejays. Elmhurst came charging back however, going on a 8-0 run of their own to tie the game up at 53 with 3:28 to play.

A 6-0 run from the Titans, including four points down the stretch from sophomore Maddie Merritt sealed the deal for IWU, who wouldn't relinquish their lead for the remainder of the contest. After playing the free-throw game for the final 20 seconds of regulation, the Bluejays had one final attempt, but failed to get a shot off.

Ehresman was the only other Titan in double figures on Friday, scoring 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, alongside four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Senior Amanda Kelly led the team with three assists. IWU succeeded from beyond the arc, cashing in on 6-of-9 3-point attempts. Junior Molly McGraw and Anderson led the team with two 3-pointers apiece. Senior Alina Lehocky collected a team-high 6 rebounds.

For Elmhurst, Eppard recorded a double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Hannah Lipman added 12 points, while Michaela Kumer scored 10 for the Bluejays.

NOTES: Wheaton has a 49-25 edge in the series against IWU dating back to 1974 ... The teams split this season with each winning on its home court. IWU nipped the Thunder 66-65 in Bloomington on Jan. 7 on a last second 3-pointer by Kelly and Wheaton was a 76-67 winner over IWU earlier this week (Tuesday, Feb. 21).

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Illinois Wesleyan has an 18-6 record in the CCIW postseason women's tournament with six tournament titles (2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). Go here to see all games played by Illinois Wesleyan.

NCAA FIELD ANNOUNCED: The field for the NCAA Division III tournament will be announced at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, with the selection show aired live at NCAA.com.