CHICAGO -- The No. 21-ranked Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team defeated North Park University by a final score of 83-53 on Saturday, Jan. 13 from the North Park Gymnasium. Six Titans finished the game in double figures with freshman Raven Hughes netting a game-high 14 points in her first career start.

Winning their 11th consecutive game this season, Illinois Wesleyan improved their record to 13-2 overall with an unblemished 6-0 mark in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). North Park fell to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the CCIW following the loss to the Titans.

Illinois Wesleyan struggled with their shot at times on Saturday, shooting 39.2 percent (29-of-74) from the floor which includes a 36.4 percent (8-of-22) mark from beyond the arc. IWU's overall shooting percentage was brought down by a 28.6 percent shooting performance in the third quarter. The Titans shot 65.4 percent from the free-throw line, good for 65.4 percent. Illinois Wesleyan held a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass, but were out-rebounded 43-35 overall.

Defensively, IWU held the Vikings to 43.2 percent shooting on just 44 shot attempts. Illinois Wesleyan forced a season-high 39 turnovers which resulted in 47 points off turnovers. North Park hadn't committed more than 26 turnovers in a game this season prior to Saturday afternoon. IWU's high-pressure defense led to a season-high 23 steals. The Titans committed just 11 turnovers of their own, leading to five points for North Park.

Junior Nina Anderson and senior Molly McGraw each tallied 13 points for the Titans followed by junior Maddie Merritt with 12, freshman Kendall Sosa with 11, and senior Rebekah Ehresman with 10. Anderson tied junior Ashley Schneider for the team-high in rebounds with six. Ehresman paced the offense with seven assists to just two turnovers while also collecting four steals. McGraw was the team-leader in steals with five.

Hughes started in place of sophomore Sydney Shanks, who was sidelined with the flu.

Illinois Wesleyan took a 17-7 lead into the second quarter and never looked back, holding a 42-29 lead at halftime. With the second quarter being closely contested by the Vikings, 25-22, IWU continued to expand upon their lead in quarters three and four. Illinois Wesleyan led by as many as 34 points down the stretch before North Park closed the game on a 4-0 swing.

What's Next?
The Titans will play on the road at Millikin University on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. Millikin's record currently stands at 5-10 with an 0-6 tally in the CCIW this season. The Big Blue are led by Devin Curry who is averaging 17.0 points per game on 43.2 percent shooting. Curry is shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range and 92.3 percent from the free-throw line this season which ranks No. 7 in Division III.