BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Kendall Sosa scored a career-high 27 points as the Titans held off a late rally to defeat Carthage College, 85-71, at the Shirk Center on Saturday, Dec. 1.

The No. 13-ranked Titans are 5-2 overall and 1-0 in starting defense of their College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title while the Lady Reds slip to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the CCIW.

Sosa, whose previous career high was 20 points at Augustana (Jan. 3, 2018), made eight of 10 from the field, including five of seven 3-pointers. She also sank six of seven free throws and got six rebounds.

Junior Sydney Shanks scored 17 points and added nine rebounds and senior Ashley Schneider scored 11 points. Off the bench, sophomore Riley Brovelli grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as the Titans held a commanding 47-31 lead over Carthage in rebounds.

The Titans led by 14 at 61-47 after three quarters but the Lady Reds narrowed the gap to six at 65-59 with 6:29 remaining. A Sosa 3-pointer stoked the lead to nine at 68-59 but again Carthage battled back to within a half dozen at 70-64 with 4:05 left. A Shanks 3-pointer put the Titans up nine at 73-64 and Illinois Wesleyan closed out the game on a 12-7 run to win by 14.

Carthage had four players score in double figures with Madie Kaelber leading the way with 19 (14 of those in the second half) and Bailey Gilbert adding 15 (12 in the second half).

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan plays a 6 p.m. nonconference game on Monday, Dec. 3, at Wisconsin-Steven Point ... The Pointers are 2-2 but are 2-0 at home this season with wins over Dubuque and Luther ... Dating back to last season, UWSP has won five-straight home games with three of the five victories coming by double figures.