BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team travels to King Arena for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash with Wheaton College Saturday, Feb. 15, with plenty of CCIW Tournament seeding implications on the line. Tipoff between the Titans and Thunder is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will serve as the first leg of a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team.
Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton enter the weekend tied for second in the league standings at 9-4 in CCIW play. IWU saw its record fall to 15-7 overall with a heartbreaking 75-71 setback at Millikin, Feb. 12. After a midweek bye, Wheaton (16-6, 9-4 CCIW) returns to action following a 58-54 win at North Park, Feb. 8.
Fans can tune into the games via live stats or live stream, while Eric Stock and Joel Swanson 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.
HOME STRETCH: With three games remaining in the regular season, Illinois Wesleyan currently finds itself tied with Wheaton for second-place in the CCIW at 9-4. North Park leads the standings at 10-4 in league play and will enjoy a bye this weekend.
NEARING HISTORIC HIGHS: As a team, the Titans have recorded 101 blocks this season. The Titans' 101 rejections are third-most all-time and just six shy of the record set by the 2018-19 squad. Riley Brovelli has tallied 38 blocks, the second-most all-time, and the most since Shelby Jackson set the record with 43 during the 2013-14 campaign. Meanwhile, Catie Eck's 26 rejections are tied for fifth-most in IWU single season laurels. Moreover, it marks the first time in program history two players have notched 25+ blocks in the same season.
Individually, junior Kendall Sosa has put together one of the most prolific scoring seasons by a Titan in program history. Through 22 games, she has scored 434 points, the 12th-most in single game history. Her 57 made three-pointers are 11th-most in single season annals, while her season free throw percentage of 86.7 is second-best by a Titan all-time.
30 FOR 30: Wednesday's 30-point performance by Kendall Sosa at Millikin gave the Bloomington, Ill. native her third 30+ point game of the season. Previously, Sosa dropped a career-high 35 points at Chicago, Nov. 12, and added 31 points at Carroll, Jan. 18.
Sosa is one of three Titans to post three-or-more 30-point efforts in a career. She joins 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).
ALL-TIME TILTS WITH THE THUNDER: Saturday's CCIW showdown between Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton will be the 83rd all-time meeting on the hardwood between the two conference foes. The Thunder hold a 54-28 edge in the all-time series and have won four of the past five regular season clashes. Of the past nine meetings, five have been decided by three points-or-less, while the average margin has been 4.5 points.
Most recently, Wheaton handed IWU its lone home loss of the season, a 62-59 setback, Jan 22. A turnover with 21 seconds to go and the Thunder in front by one proved the be the dagger as the Titans game-tying attempt fell short. Kendall Sosa led all scorers with 23 points, while Sydney Shanks added six points and a game-high 10 rebounds. IWU finished with a better field goal percentage, 41.9 to 33.9, but a barrage of three-pointers lifted Wheaton to the win.
SCOUTING REPORT - WHEATON: Wheaton, the CCIW preseason favorite, travels to Bloomington with an 16-6 overall record and a 9-4 mark in league play. The new calendar year has been kind to the Thunder, as Wheaton has won eight of their last 10 games since start of the New Year, with four of those wins coming by four points-or-less.
Hannah Frazier leads the Thunder at 18.5 points per game and also grabs a team-best 6.9 rebounds per contest. Hannah Williams also averages in double figures at 10.6 points per game. Four players have knocked down 30-or-more three-pointers for Wheaton, the league's top shooting team from distance with a 36.0 field goal percentage from beyond the arc. The Thunder knock down a league-best 8.2 triples per game, and are paced by Madsen who has gone 45-for-119 from the long line.
Despite its strong shooting from long range, Wheaton is averaging just 65.7 points per contest. The Thunder are holding opponents to 60.0 points a contest, but are -1.1 on the glass.
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME: Since beginning CCIW play, the Titans have taken their play to another level. With 12 league games under its belt IWU leads the conference in scoring (76.4 ppg), scoring margin (+11.9), field goal percentage (44.7), rebounding defense (36.20 rpg), turnover margin (+4.38), assists (17.08 apg), and steals (10.92 spg).
Illinois Wesleyan also leads the league in attendance, as IWU averages 388 fans per home game. Augustana (350 pg) is the only other team in the conference bringing in more than 250 per game. Nationally, the Titans hold the 12th-best crowd average in all of Division III.
THE ONE AND ONLY: Junior Kendall Sosa has put together quite a season through 22 games. In addition to leading Illinois Wesleyan in scoring, Sosa is the only player in the country to hold a shooting percentage line of at least 45-39-86.
The Bloomington, Ill. native is converting 45.6 percent of her shot attempts, 39.9 percent of her three-pointers, and is shooting 86.7 percent at the free throw line, the 20th-best mark in the nation. She checks in at 36th in three-point field goal percentage, and sits 139th in overall field goal percentage.
HOT SHOTS: Illinois Wesleyan has scored 1,622 points this season, the most of any team in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Additionally, IWU's season point total is 39th nationally. Meanwhile, the Titans 73.7 points per game is best in the league and 38th in the country and their field goal percentage of 43 is 31st nationally.
Illinois Wesleyan is 13-2 when scoring 67-or-more points, compared to 2-5 when held under the 67-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-15 in scoring. Sosa tops the league at 19.7 points a game, while Shanks sits eighth (11.9), and Brovelli (10.6) and Lansford (10.6) are tied for 12th.
THE 49TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 660-474 overall record. IWU's .582 all-time win percentage includes a 304-189 CCIW mark.
SHARING IS CARING: A key to the Titans success through 22 games of the season has been their selflessness. Illinois Wesleyan has dished out 370 assists, the most in the CCIW and the 21st-most in the country. IWU's 16.8 assists per game are 22nd-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 8-1 when shooting 70 percent-or-better from the charity stripe compared to 6-6 when shooting less than 70 percent from the line. Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan is 10-1 when making 10-or-more free throws.
TRYING TO JOIN THE CLUB: With seven games to play in the regular season, junior Kendall Sosa is on the verge of becoming just the third Titan all-time to average 20+ points per game for a season. Currently, the junior guard owns a 19.7 points per game average, the best in the CCIW and the 27th-best nationally.
Should Sosa break the 20-point plateau, she will join Lila Naffziger and Olivia Lett as the only other Titans to average 20+ ppg for a season. Naffziger did so in 1979-80, averaging a program record 25.4 ppg, and Lett (21.8 ppg) accomplished the feat in 2011-12.
I'LL TAKE THREE-POINTERS FOR 100, ALEX: In Illinois Wesleyan's game against Wheaton, Jan. 22, junior Kendall Sosa became the 15th player in IWU history with 100+ career three-pointers made. Currently, the Bloomington, Ill. native's 114 career three-pointers are 11 behind Nina Anderson's 13th-ranked total of 125. Mallory Heydorn holds the program record with 281 career triples from 2005 to 2009.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan returns to the Shirk Center for its final home game of the regular season Wednesday night, Feb. 19, when it squares off with North Central. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
