BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The No. 23/24 Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team takes a brief break from conference play to take on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Monday night, Dec. 9, inside the Shirk Center. Tipoff between the Titans and Pointers is slated for 6 p.m.
The Titans, who will play their third game in six days, enter the non-conference bout with a 7-2 overall record. Illinois Wesleyan held off Carthage, 62-61, Saturday, Dec. 7, to remain unbeaten in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. UW-Stevens Point is 3-3 on the season and looking to snap a two-game skid. The Pointers dropped a 60-59 matchup at North Central, Nov. 23, and fell at Carthage 73-47, Nov. 26.
Fans can tune into the games via live stats or live stream, while Derek Bohlmann and Cathy Lowery will also have the call on 98.3 FM WEXG. Links on how to follow along can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
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.
LEVEL LEDGER: Illinois Wesleyan and UW-Stevens Point have met 14 times all-time, including in each of the past 11 seasons. The series sits even at 7-7, but the Titans have won the past two meetings.
Most recently, IWU outlasted UWSP 77-72 in Wisconsin, Dec. 3, 2018. Sydney Shanks led the Titans with a game-high 22 points, while Maddie Merritt fell just shy of a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Of the 14 games between the two storied programs, two have come in the NCAA Tournament (2009 - IWU 77, UWSP 64; 2010 - IWU 76, UWSP 77).
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.
HOME COOKING: In the 25 year history of the Shirk Center, Illinois Wesleyan has won 228 of 302 of its games on its home court, good for a .755 win percentage. The Titans are 1-0 on Denny Bridges Court and have won six straight at home dating back to a Jan. 16 win over North Central.
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 leads the league at 19.2 points a game, while Shanks sits seventh (13.9), Brovelli is 16th (10.9), and Lansford is 22nd (9.4).
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. 23 in the D3hoops poll and sit 24th 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 650-468 overall record. IWU's .582 all-time win percentage includes a 297-185 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
SCOUTING REPORT - UW-STEVENS POINT: UW-Stevens Point has had an up and down start to the 2019-20 campaign and enters Monday with a 3-3 record. After a narrow loss to No. 10 DePauw, Nov. 15, UWSP topped Concordia Chicago and Lakeland before falling to North Central and Carthage.
Amber Baehman's 11.2 points per game leads a Pointers offense that averages 66 points a contest. Behind Baehman, the team's only player averaging 10+ points, Carly Cerrato and Bailee Collins average 9.3 and 9.2 ppg. Moreover, Baehman and Cerrato have combined for 19 of UWSP's 30 three-pointers this season. Jamie Pfeifer grabs a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game followed by Baehman's 4.6 board average.
As a team, UW-Stevens Point has relied heavily on its defense. The Pointers are holding opponents to 35.3 percent from the field and just 29.1 from three-point range. Meanwhile, UWSP is converting 46.6 percent of its shot attempts and 34.9 percent of three-point tries. The Pointers have also been strong on the glass, where they outrebound opponents 37.0-31.3 on average.
SHARING IS CARING: A key to the Titans success through the first eight games of the season as been their selflessness. Illinois Wesleyan has dished out 156 assists, the second-most in the CCIW and the ninth-most in the country. IWU's 17.3 assists per game are 24th-best in the country and lead the CCIW, while Sydney Shanks (29th - 34 assists) and Sam Munroe (71st - 29) sit inside the nation's top-100 in dimes as of Dec. 5.
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 second in the league and 14th nationally with a three-point field goal percentage of 38.5, while its 62 made triples are 21st-best nationally.
Individually, Kendall Sosa leads the conference and is slotted fourth in the country with 25 made three-pointers. Meanwhile, her 49.0 clip beyond the arc is 27th in the nation.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan takes a break for final exams before returning to CCIW play at Augustana College Sunday, Dec. 15. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be the first of two IWU-Augie matchups as the IWU men's hoops team clashes with the Vikings at 3 p.m.
