WHEATON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team claimed the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship Saturday night, Feb. 29, with an 84-76 win over top-seeded Wheaton College. The Titans led for more than 37 of the 40 minutes as they knocked off the Thunder in the title game for the third straight season and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Juniors Kendall Sosa (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and Samantha Munroe (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) combined to score 57 of IWU's 84 points. Sosa dropped 31 points, tied for the team lead with four steals, and added three rebounds and two assists. Munroe was on fire from three-point range, going 7-for-10 from beyond the arc, and finished with 26 points. Munroe's seven triples are tied for sixth-most in program history, as well as the most by a Titan since 2012.

Senior Sydney Shanks (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) also finished in double figures, scoring 14 points. Junior Riley Brovelli (Oglesby, Ill.-LaSalle-Peru) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with five points, three assists, and a steal. Sophomore Brooke Lansford (Leawood, Kan.-Blue Valley West) dished out a career-high seven assists.

Illinois Wesleyan was red-hot out of the gate, jumping out to an 11-2 lead early on. Wheaton battled back to pull within four at the end of one quarter of play, before the Titans took a three-point edge into the half.

IWU broke the game open in the second half, taking a 13 point lead into the final stanza.

The Titans refused to let up in the fourth quarter, as a Munroe triple gave IWU its largest lead of the night, 73-55, with 6:46 to go. The Thunder got back within single digits, but Illinois Wesleyan put the game away at the free throw line to secure the title.

IWU will learn its NCAA Tournament fate Monday, March 2. The NCAA Division III selection show is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and can be viewed here.