BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The 2019-20 Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball season kicks off Saturday, Nov. 9, as the Titans travel to University Park, Ill. for a matchup with Governors State University. Tipoff between the Titans and Jaguars is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside GSU's Athletics and Recreation Center, more commonly referred to as The ARC.
Links on how to follow along with Saturday's game can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
THE 49TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, now in its 49th year of women's basketball, has compiled a 645-467 overall record. IWU's .580 all-time win percentage includes a 295-185 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
THE DEAN OF THE CCIW: The 2019-20 season marks the 22nd year under the direction of Mia Smith, the longest tenured coach in the CCIW. Smith's 412 wins are the most among active CCIW coaches by more than 150. Additionally, Smith's 224 CCIW wins are the third-most in league history.
Under the tutelage of Smith, IWU has won eight CCIW Championships and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances. The Titans won the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship following a fourth-place finish in 2011.
SHANKS' SENIOR SEASON: Sydney Shanks is the Titans top returning scorer after averaging 11.8 points per contest in 2018-19. Shanks, who ranked second on the team with points per game, was one of the most efficient players in the CCIW last year. A unanimous First Team All-CCIW honoree, Shanks led the conference in steals with 67, while ranking third in assists with a team-best 113. The Bloomington, Ill. native was also the third-most utilized player in the conference, playing nearly 900 minutes.
MEET THE CAPTAINS: Sydney Shanks, Sam Munroe, and Kendall Sosa have been named IWU's captains for the 2019-20 season.
All three played in just about every game a season ago, with Shanks playing a team-high 897 minutes. Alongside Shanks' 11.8 points per game and 4.0 rebounds a contest, Munroe and Sosa added 5.7 and 9.1 ppg, respectively.
SHOES TO FILL: Illinois Wesleyan will look to a combination of returners and newcomers to replace more than half of its scoring and rebounding from a season ago. The Titans will be without their top scorer and rebounder from a season ago in Maddie Merritt, as well as Raven Hughes who ranked third on the team in points per game (9.3) and tied for second with 5.3 boards per contest.
Overall, IWU returns 45.6 percent of its scoring and 48.8 percent of its rebounding from last year.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Saturday's season opener will mark the first meeting between Illinois Wesleyan and Governors State. The Jaguars finished the 2018-19 season with a 16-13 overall record, including a 8-5 mark at home.
IWU IN SEASON OPENERS: IWU has won five out of its past six season openers, with the lone loss coming last season with a 77-76 setback against Chicago. Prior to that, Illinois Wesleyan had won five straight season openers dating back to the 2013-14 campaign. Over the past six seasons, the Titans have averaged 86.2 points in their lid lifters while only giving up 67.3 points a game.
SCOUTING REPORT: Governors State, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) member, is 0-2 on the season following losses to Concordia University-Ann Arbor and Lincoln College.
Ariana Dampier has led the Jaguars with 15.0 points and 8.5 rebounds a game, while Shamita Breeze has added 13 points and 4.0 rebounds a contest off the bench. For the season, GSU is shooting 30.8 percent from the floor and 28.1 percent from three-point range.
ROAD WARRIORS: Illinois Wesleyan will begin the season with an eight-game roadtrip that spans nearly a month. After opening up the season at Governors State, IWU will head to Chicago before playing in the St. Norbert Tipoff Tournament, Nov. 15-16. From there, the Titans return to Wisconsin for a clash with UW-Whitewater, Nov. 23. The Midwest Challenge hosted by WashU is on the docket following Thanksgiving, with IWU's CCIW opener at North Central closing out the lengthy roadtrip.
PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST: As it has consistently done under Mia Smith, Illinois Wesleyan will face a tough non-conference schedule ahead of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. In fact, IWU's schedule includes four teams ranked inside D3hoops.com's Preseason Top-25 in No. 7 Mary Hardin-Baylor, No. 14 Wheaton, No. 18 Chicago, and No. 24 WashU.
CCIW PRESEASON PREDICTIONS: Illinois Wesleyan was predicted to finish second in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Preseason Coaches' Poll announced by the league office Wednesday, Oct. 30.
Wheaton enters the season as preseason favorites, having garnered 64 points and eight first place votes after winning their fourth title in the last five years last season. IWU came in second in the coaches' poll with 55 points and one first place vote. The Titans have won eight conference titles in program history, all under the direction of head coach Mia Smith. Illinois Wesleyan placed 22nd in the final D3hoops.com Top-25 at the end of last season.
Carthage earned 52 points, finishing third in the poll, followed by North Park and Augustana in fourth and fifth, respectively. North Central is slotted sixth with 29 points, with Elmhurst, Millikin, and Carroll rounding out the poll.
ON THE HORIZON: The Titans return to action Tuesday, Nov. 12, with a trip to the Windy City to take on 18th-ranked University of Chicago. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
