BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – With final exams complete, the No. 21/22 Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team will return to the hardwood Sunday, Dec. 15, with a conference clash at Augustana College. Tipoff between the Titans and Vikings is set for 1 p.m. inside the Roy J. Carver Center.
Hitting the floor for the first time in nearly a week, IWU enters the game with an 8-2 record, including a 2-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark. Most recently, Illinois Wesleyan held of UW-Stevens Point 73-61, Dec. 9. On the other side, Augustana will hit the floor for the first time in over a week with a 5-5 record on the year. The Vikings have won four of their last five, including an 84-74 victory over Caroll to move to 1-1 in the CCIW.
Links on how to follow along can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
BEAST MODE: Junior Riley Brovelli was a beast in Illinois Wesleyan's win over UW-Stevens Point, Dec. 9. The 6-foot-1 forward dropped a career-high 21 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to lead IWU. Brovelli's 15 boards are tied for 18th-most in Illinois Wesleyan history and are the most by a Titan since Lexi Baltes grabbed 16 against Howard Payne, Dec. 28, 2013.
FINDING HER STRIDE: After a relatively slow start to the season, sophomore point guard Brooke Lansford has found her stride as of late. The Leawood, Kan. product is amid a seven-game streak in which she has scored 10-or-more points. Additionally, she has tallied four-or-more assists in each of the past four games.
Over the past four games, Lansford is averaging 12.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per contest.
CLIMBING THE LADDER: With her 21-point, 15-rebound performance against UW-Stevens Point, Dec. 9, Riley Brovelli notched her sixth double-double of the season, and the seventh of her career. Her six double-doubles lead the conference and rank sixth-most nationally. Additionally, she is tied for sixth on IWU's all-time double-double list.
DON'T HOLD IT AGAINST HIM: Illinois Wesleyan Athletic Director Mike Wagner is the lone common link between IWU and Augustana. Wagner, a 1992 Augie graduate, played football for the Vikings. A Honorable Mention All-American by Dan Hansen's Football Gazette, Wagner was an All-CCIW linebacker. He led Augie to three NCAA Division III Playoff appearances during his playing career.
ALL-TIME AGAINST AUGIE: Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana share a long history that dates back to the 1976-77 campaign. The Titans hold the upper hand in the 79-game series, 46-33, and have won five straight games against the Vikings.
Last season, IWU outlasted Augie 83-76 in Rock Island, Ill., Dec. 8, 2018 behind a 28-point performance from Maddie Merritt. Illinois Wesleyan completed the sweep with an 81-65 win at the Shirk Center, Jan. 19, 2019. Sydney Shanks led all scorers with 25 points, while three other Titans finished in double figures as IWU shot a whopping 56.5 percent from the floor for the game.
SCOUTING REPORT - AUGUSTANA: The Vikings, who sit at 5-5 on the season and 1-1 in league play, have hit their stride as of late. Winners of four of its last five, Augustana has picked up wins over Dubuque, Monmouth, and Carroll.
Alexis Jones leads the Vikings at 15 points per game, while also pulling down a team-best 9.0 rebounds a contest and handing out a team-high 3.2 assists per game. Aside from Jones, no other player tops 10 points for the Vikings, as Mia Lambert and Gabriela Loiz average 9.8 points each.
As a team the Vikings are shooting just 38.2 percent on the season and connecting on 32.1 percent of their three-pointers. Augustana has turned opponents over 199 times and has recorded 102 steals. The Vikings 10.2 steals per game at third-best in the conference.
SHE'S GOT THE CLUTCH GENE: With the Titans trailing 61-60 with nine seconds to play against the Lady Reds, Dec. 7, Sydney Shanks hit a fade away jumper to lift IWU to a 62-61 victory at the Shirk Center.
The timely bucket is the latest entry on the list of clutch plays the Shanks family is responsible for this year. Lauren Shanks, a member of IWU's women's soccer team and younger sister of Sydney, scored the Titans' CCIW Tournament Championship-clinching goal in overtime against Augustana, Nov. 19.
TWICE IS NICE: Sydney Shanks and Riley Brovelli posted double-doubles in IWU's win over Carthage, Dec. 7. Shanks scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while Brovelli added 11 points and 10 boards. It marked the first time two Titans recorded a double-double in the same game since Dec. 29, 2018 and just the ninth time since 1999-00.
TITAN TRIO QUARTET: Kendall Sosa, Sydney Shanks, Riley Brovelli, and Brooke Lansford have lead a balanced offensive attack for the Titans so far this season. In fact, IWU is the only team in the conference with four players ranked inside the CCIW top-22 in scoring. Sosa is second in the league at 18.6 points a game, while Shanks sits seventh (13.1), Brovelli is 11th (11.9), and Lansford is 21st (9.7).
DOUBLE THE POLLS: Illinois Wesleyan finds itself ranked inside the D3hoops.com and Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top-25 polls. The Titans are slotted No. 21 in the D3hoops poll and sit 22nd in the WBCA Coaches' Poll.
THE 49TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, now in its 49th year of women's basketball, has compiled a 651-468 overall record. IWU's .583 all-time win percentage includes a 297-185 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
SHARING IS CARING: A key to the Titans success through the first 10 games of the season has been their selflessness. Illinois Wesleyan has dished out 173 assists, the second-most in the CCIW and the fifth-most in the country. IWU's 17.3 assists per game are 26th-best in the country, while Sydney Shanks (40th - 39 assists) and Sam Munroe (85th - 33 assists) sit inside the nation's top-100 in dimes as of Dec. 12.
DIALING IN FROM LONG DISTANCE: Illinois Wesleyan has not just been one of the better three-point shooting teams in the conference this season, but the Titans are one of the best in the country. IWU ranks fourth in the league and 28th nationally with a three-point field goal percentage of 36.5, while its 73 made triples are 18th-best nationally.
Individually, Kendall Sosa ranks second in the conference and is slotted seventh in the country with 28 made three-pointers. Meanwhile, her 43.1 clip beyond the arc is 51st-best in the nation.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan does not return to action for 13 days as IWU's next game will take place at No. 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor Saturday, Dec. 28, in Belton, Texas. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
