DECATUR, Ill. -- The No. 18-ranked Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team never trailed in forging an 82-64 win over Millikin University at Griswold Gymnasium in Decatur, Ill., on Saturday, Jan. 12.

In winning a game that started two hours later than scheduled because of heavy snow in central Illinois, the Titans improved to 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Big Blue slipped to 5-11 overall and 1-6 in the league.

IWU scored the first points of the game and were tied at 2-2 but took a 4-2 lead and never trailed the rest of the game. The Titans were ahead 18-8 after the first quarter and the Big Blue managed to close to within four at 25-21 with 6:29 in the second quarter before IWU went on an 11-4 surge to get a 36-23 halftime advantage.

Senior Maddie Merritt led IWU with 21 points and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds as the Titans had a 40-32 lead on the boards. Sophomore Sam Munroe scored 17 points and junior Sydney Shanks added 16. Freshman Brooke Lansford led the team with five assists.

Illinois Wesleyan shot .493 from the field (36 of 73) and made six of 14 3-pointers (.429). IWU made four of the five free throws they took in the game. Millikin made 26 of 61 from the floor (.426) and connected on three of 14 (.214) from beyond the arc. The Big Blue made nine of 11 free throws.

Yanni Saddler scored 19 for Millikin and Jordan Hildebrand also had 19 points with a team-high eight rebounds. Millikin was guilty of 19 turnovers to only 13 for Illinois Wesleyan.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan is at home on Wednesday, Jan. 16 with a 7 p.m. game against North Central. The Cardinals have lost six in a row and nine of their last 10 and are 3-13 overall and 1-6 in the CCIW.