BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In search of its fifth straight win, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team welcomes Wheaton College to the Shirk Center Wednesday night, Jan. 22, in a rematch of last season's College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship game. Tipoff between the Titans and Thunder is slated for 7 p.m.
Illinois Wesleyan kept its hold on the top spot in the league with an 83-69 win at Carroll, Jan. 18, to move to 6-1 in league play and 12-4 overall. Wheaton, which has won three of its past four games, cruised past Elmhurst 71-48, Jan.18, to improve to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in CCIW competition.
Fans can tune into the games via live stats or live stream, while Derek Bolhmann and Marsha Moody will 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.
30 FOR 30: Saturday's 31-point performance by Kendall Sosa at Carroll gave the Bloomington, Ill. native her second 30+ point game of the season. Sosa, who dropped a career high 35 points at Chicago, Nov. 12, is one of five Titans to post multiple 30-point efforts in a career.
She joins Sara Seebruch (39 vs. North Central - Jan. 16, 1999 & 31 vs. Franklin - Nov. 21, 1998), Mallory Heydorn (37 at Augustana - Feb. 14, 2007 & 32 at Emory - Dec. 29, 2006), Molly McGraw (36 at North Central - Dec. 3, 2016 & 33 vs. North Park - Jan. 11, 2017 & 33 at WashU - Nov. 27, 2016), and Traci Butler (33 at Benedictine - Feb. 9, 1993 & 32 at North Central - Feb. 27, 1993 & 30 vs. Augustana - Feb. 12, 1993).
RACKING UP THE REJECTIONS: In Illinois Wesleyan's win at Carroll, Jan. 22, junior Riley Brovelli registered three blocks, pushing her season total to 29. The 6-foot-2 forward's 29 rejections are fourth-most in IWU single-season laurels. She trails Thea Rogers' for third by three, and is 14 shy of Shelby Jackson's record of 43 from the 2013-14 season.
For her career, Brovelli has recorded 61 blocks, the fifth-most in program history. Shelby Jackson's 82 rejections stand as the most in IWU history, followed by Thea Rogers (70), Olivia Lett (70), and Hope Schulte (69).
RISING TO THE OCCASION: Since stepping into the starting lineup, Jan. 4, junior Anna Lowis has risen to the challenge. In four starts, Lowis has averaged 10.0 rebounds, 4.3 points, 2.8 steals, and 2.5 assists per game for the Titans.
THREE-TIME PICK: Junior Kendall Sosa was named the CCIW Player of the Week for the third time this season Monday, Jan. 20. She is the first Titan to earn three-or-more CCIW weekly awards since Olivia Lett was a five-time recipient during the 2011-12 campaign.
TAKING IT UP A NOTCH: Since beginning CCIW play, the Titans have taken their play to another level. With seven league games under their belts IWU leads the conference in scoring (79.7 ppg), scoring margin (+16.4), field goal percentage (45.4), rebounding defense (36.0 rpg), offensive rebounds (13.9 orpg), turnover margin (+4.43), assists (17.86 apg), and steals (12.14 spg).
ONE OF A HANDFUL: Junior Kendall Sosa has put together quite a season through the Titans first 15 games. In addition to leading Illinois Wesleyan in scoring, Sosa is one of three players in the country to hold a shooting percentage line of at least 40-35-89.
The Bloomington, Ill. native is converting 45.1 percent of her shot attempts, 39.3 percent of her three-pointers, and is shooting 89.1 percent at the free throw line. She joins Brandeis' Camila Casanueva (42.8-41.3-95.2) and Salem State's Courtney Paschal (42.3-38.2-90.0).
ALL-TIME TILTS WITH THE THUNDER: Wednesday's midweek clash between Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton will be the 82nd all-time meeting on the hardwood between the two conference foes. The Thunder hold a 53-28 edge in the all-time series and have won three of the past four regular season clashes. Of the past nine meetings, four have been decided by two points-or-less, while the average margin has been 4.7 points.
Most recently, Wheaton swept the regular season series 56-54, Jan. 2, 2019, and 58-52, Jan. 31, 2019. IWU got the best of the Thunder in the CCIW Tournament Championship, edging Wheaton 69-68 to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING REPORT - WHEATON: Wheaton, the CCIW preseason favorite, travels to Bloomington with an 11-5 overall record and a 4-3 mark in league play. Since a tumultuous December in which the Thunder dropped their first two league games, Wheaton has won three of its last four outings by an average of 12.3 points per game.
Hannah Frazier leads the Thunder at 17.8 points per game and also grabs a team-best 6.9 rebounds per contest. Hannah Williams also averages in double figures at 11.6 points per game. Four players have knocked down 20-or-more three-pointers for Wheaton, the league's top shooting team from distance with a 36.3 field goal percentage from beyond the arc. The Thunder knock down a league-best 8.3 triples per game, and are paced by Kristi Demski who has gone 30-for-72 from the long line this season.
Despite its strong shooting from long range, Wheaton is averaging just 65.9 points per contest. The Thunder are holding opponents to 59.4 points a contest, but are -1.4 on the glass.
HOT SHOTS: Illinois Wesleyan has scored 1,187 points this season, the most of any team in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Additionally, IWU's season point total is 27th nationally. Meanwhile, the Titans 74.2 points per game is best in the league and 38th in the country.
Illinois Wesleyan is 12-2 when scoring 60-or-more points, compared to 0-2 when held under the 60-point mark.
TITAN TRIO QUARTET: Kendall Sosa, Sydney Shanks, Riley Brovelli, and Brooke Lansford have lead the Titans' offense this season. In fact, IWU is the only team in the conference with four players ranked inside the CCIW top-16 in scoring. Sosa tops the league at 19.9 points a game, while Shanks sits eighth (13.0), Brovelli is tied for 12th (11.6), and Lansford is 16th (10.4).
THE 49TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 657-471 overall record. IWU's .582 all-time win percentage includes a 301-186 CCIW mark.
SHARING IS CARING: A key to the Titans success through the first 16 games of the season has been their selflessness. Illinois Wesleyan has dished out 273 assists, the most in the CCIW and the 15th-most in the country. IWU's 17.1 assists per game are 21st-best in the country.
ALL COMES DOWN TO CASHING IN: Free throws have been an indicator of the Titans' success in 2019-20. In fact, IWU is 8-0 when shooting 70 percent-or-better from the charity stripe compared to 4-4 when shooting less than 70 percent from the line. Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan is 8-1 when making 10-or-more free throws
HOME COOKING: In the 25-year history of the Shirk Center, IWU has won 230 of 304 of its games on its home court, good for a .755 win percentage. The Titans are 4-0 on Denny Bridges Court and have won nine straight at home dating back to a Jan. 16, 2019 win over North Central.
ON THE HORIZON: Following Wednesday night's matchup with Wheaton, Illinois Wesleyan travels to the Windy City for a rematch against North Park Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m.
