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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team rolled past North Park University 82-51 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Wednesday night, Jan. 8, inside the Shirk Center. With the win, the Titans moved into first place in the CCIW with a 4-1 league record (10-4 overall) and handed the Vikings (10-3, 3-1 CCIW) their first conference loss of the season.

Illinois Wesleyan was led by the junior trio of Kendall Sosa (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community), Riley Brovelli (Oglesby, Ill.-LaSalle-Peru), and Samantha Munroe (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East). Sosa scored 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Brovelli added 17 points, a game-high eight rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Meanwhile, Munroe contributed 13 points off the bench, hitting 3-of-4 three-point attempts, to give IWU a 24-14 edge in bench scoring.

Overall, Illinois Wesleyan shot a blistering 54.0 percent from the floor and went 7-for-16 from distance. On the flip side, IWU's defense held NPU to a 38.6 percent clip and forced 22 Vikings turnovers. Junior Anna Lowis (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) paced the defensive effort alongside Brovelli, notching eight steals with Brovelli tallying five as the Titans finished with 17 as a team. Lowis' eight swipes are tied for fifth-most in program history.

A Sosa three-pointer on a kickout from Brovelli gave Illinois Wesleyan its first bucket of the day and jump started the IWU offense with eight minutes to play. A stepback three-ball from sophomore Brooke Lansford (Leawood, Kan.-Blue Valley West) capped a 15-4 run and put the Titans in front 15-10 after 10 minutes of play.

In the second period, Lansford found Munroe for a three-pointer on a skip pass and junior Catie Eck (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) closed the half with an and-one on an offensive putback to give Illinois Wesleyan a 10-point advantage, 31-21, at halftime.

The Titans came out hot in the second half, rattling off seven unanswered points over the first 53 seconds to move ahead by 17, 38-21, and force a NPU timeout.

From that point on IWU never let up, eventually pulling away by 31. Freshman Megan Moody (Gibson City, Ill.-Gibson City/Melvin-Sibley) found fellow freshman Kelly Carlson (Western Springs, Ill.-Lyons Township) for the final Illinois Wesleyan bucket, putting an exclamation on the Titans' convincing 82-51 victory.

Illinois Wesleyan returns to action on the road next Wednesday, Jan. 15, at Elmhurst College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.