Photo Gallery

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team was spurned by a late run by Wheaton College Wednesday night, Jan. 22, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans, who led by as many as 10, could not find a bucket late, falling 62-59.

Senior Sydney Shanks (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) converted a jumper to put the Titans up 59-57, but a Thunder putback leveled the score at 59-59 with 54 seconds to go. From there, Wheaton converted a trio of free throws to inch ahead by three. Looking to send the game to overtime with nine seconds remaining, IWU's game-tying attempt came up empty as the Titans saw their nine-game home win streak halted.

With the loss, Illinois Wesleyan's record dips to 6-2 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play and 12-5 overall. It was the first home setback for IWU since a Jan. 2, 2019 loss to the Thunder.

Junior Kendall Sosa (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) scored 23 points as the lone Titan in double figures. She also added five rebounds, two assists, and a block, while Shanks grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points.

As a team, Illinois Wesleyan held a 41.9 to 33.9 edge in field goal percentage, but Wheaton went 9-of-28 from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Titans knocked down just 3-of-16 triple tries. The Thunder got to the free throw line 19 times, converting just 11 attempts, while IWU went 4-for-5 at the charity stripe.

Illinois Wesleyan opened up a 6-2 lead, but an extended scoring drought saw the Titans advantage erased as Wheaton went up 13-8. Out of a timeout, freshman Katelyn Heller (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard West) euro-stepped her way to the bucket, and Sosa knocked down a step-back jumper to pull IWU within one, 13-12, with 6:47 to go in the second period.

A swipe-and-score from Heller followed by a Brooke Lansford (Leawood, Kan.-Blue Valley West)  triple allowed Illinois Wesleyan to regain the lead, 17-16, en route to a 26-21 halftime advantage.

Sosa came out red hot in the third quarter, quickly pushing IWU's lead to 31-21, to force a Wheaton timeout just one minute into the period, but the Thunder clawed their way back to tie the score at 46-all into the fourth quarter. Wheaton outscored IWU 16-13 in the final stanza to escape victorious.

Illinois Wesleyan has a bye this weekend before returning to action at North Park University next Wednesday, Jan. 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Windy City.