ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The No. 23-ranked Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team defeated Augustana College by a final score of 102-57 on Wednesday, Jan. 3 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) action. Freshman Kendall Sosa led the team with a game and season-high 20 points off the bench.

With a win the Titans improved to 11-2 on the season with a 4-0 mark in the CCIW while the Vikings fell to 8-4 overall with a 1-2 conference mark.

Illinois Wesleyan had trouble missing on Saturday, converting on 51.7 percent of their total shot attempts (30-of-58) and 41.2 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc (7-of-17). However, the real story was the Titan defense which held Augustana to a 29.0 percent shooting performance which included a 2-for-20 performance from 3-point range. Illinois Wesleyan won the rebounding battle 52-40, but conceded 15 offensive rebounds to the Vikings which led to 12 points.

IWU committed 27 turnovers during Saturday's game, but did a good job of getting back on defense by limiting Augustana to 11 points off turnovers. The forced 20 turnovers on the defensive side which they turned into 26 points.

Sosa's 11-for-11 performance from the free-throw line matches the performance of senior Molly McGraw earlier this season against UW-Stevens Point and was one shy of the Illinois Wesleyan's single-game free-throw percentage record set by Elisa Ettner against North Park on Feb. 24, 2001 when she finished 12-of-12. In addition to 20 points, Sosa finished with six rebounds and a steal.

Junior Nina Anderson was the second-leading scorer for Illinois Wesleyan matching her season-high with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Junior Maddie Merritt followed with 14 points and tied junior Ashley Schneider for the team lead in rebounds with eight. Merritt also matched sophomore Sydney Shanks for the team lead in assists with three. Also scoring in double-figures for the Titans were senior Molly McGraw (12) and freshman Riley Brovelli (10). Brovelli and fellow freshman Raven Hughes each finished with seven rebounds. McGraw, Schneider, and Hughes each made three steals to add to their final lines.

Despite Augustana holding a narrow 4-3 lead in the beginning stages of the action, Illinois Wesleyan built a commanding 45-18 lead heading into halftime after holding the Vikings to a 20.0 percent shooting performance which featured an 0-for-11 tally from three in the first half.

The Vikings were led in scoring by Sadie Roberts' nine points followed by eight from Clare Kramer. Justice Edell, Alexis Jones, and Mia Lambert each finished with six points. Izzy Anderson was the team's leading rebounder with six.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan will be back at home on Saturday, Jan. 6 for a 5:00 p.m. clash against Elmhurst College and Pre-Season All-American Mikaela Eppard. Elmhurst enters Saturday with a 7-6 record following a 69-64 victory over Millikin on Jan. 3. Eppard is the reigning CCIW "Player of the Week" and is averaging 16.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.