BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team opens up play in the NCAA Tournament Friday night, March 6, against Berea College in Holland, Mich. Tipoff of the first-round tilt is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST inside DeVos Fieldhouse.
Illinois Wesleyan punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament via the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's automatic bid with an 84-76 win over top-seeded Wheaton, Feb. 29. The Titans enter the postseason with a 19-8 overall record and are winners of four straight. Berea, the winner of the USA South Athletic Conference, will make its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Mountaineers own a 25-3 overall record, their best season since joining Division III, and have won 20 of their last 21 games.
Fans can tune into the games via live stats or live stream, while Derek Bohlmann and Marsha Moody 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. Ticket information can be found by clicking here.
MARCH MADNESS MODE: Illinois Wesleyan will make its 13th appearance in the NCAA Touranment all-time, and its fourth straight Friday night when it clashes with Berea in the opening round. Since first making the tournament in 1995, IWU has compiled an 18-12 record the the postseason tourney. The Titans played in the third place game in 2011 and won the Division III National Championship in 2012.
CCIW ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: For the fourth consecutive season, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin has multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. IWU is making its fourth straight appearance and 11th under head coach Mia Smith, while Wheaton is in the tournament for the seventh time in 20 years.
CCIW teams have won two NCAA Division III national titles in women's basketball including Millikin in 2005 and Illinois Wesleyan in 2012. North Central won a national title in 1983 before the conference began sponsoring women's athletics.
CCIW TOURNAMENT CHAMPS (AGAIN): Illinois Wesleyan earned its third straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament title with an 84-76 win at Wheaton Saturday, Feb. 29. The Titans defeated Augustana in the semifinals, needing a pair of Brooke Lansford free throws to secure the 76-75 overtime win. In the championship game, big games from Kendall Sosa and Samantha Munroe powered the Titans to the title. Sosa finished with a game-high 31 points, while Munroe added 26.
20/20 VISION: Juniors Kendall Sosa and Samantha Munroe each topped the 20-point mark in IWU's CCIW Championship win over Wheaton, Feb. 29, one day after Sosa and senior Sydney Shanks dropped 20+ points. It marked the sixth time this season and the ninth time since the start of the 2016-17 season, two players scored 20-or-more points in the same game.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Friday's opening round clash between Illinois Wesleyan and Berea will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
TITANS VS. USA SOUTH: While Illinois Wesleyan has never squared off against Berea, the Titans have taken on three USA South Athletic Conference members previously. IWU is 2-1 against the Roma, Ga.-based league all-time, having defeated Maryville and LaGrange. The Titans' setback came at the hands of Piedmont, 63-61, during the 2001-02 season.
SCOUTING REPORT - BEREA: Winner of four in-a-row, Berea earned the USA South Athletic Conference's AQ after capturing the conference's tournament title with a 66-58 win over Piedmont, March 1. The Mountaineers enter the postseason with a 25-3 overall record, its best mark since joining the NCAA Division III ranks in 2012-13.
The freshmen duo of Aaliyah Hampton and Destiny Combs lead the Mountaineers. Hampton, the USA South Athletic Conference's Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, averages a team-best 20.2 points per game. She also adds 3.2 rebounds 2.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per contest and is one of the best in country at getting to the free throw line. Hampton ranks second nationally with 213 free throw attempts and leads the nation with 160 free throws made. Combs is the only other player averaging double figures for Berea, checking in at 10.7 ppg, while three others average eight points-or-more.
As a team, Berea makes a living by getting to the charity stripe. The Mountaineers lead all of Division III with 710 free throw attempts and 491 makes at the stripe. Berea also averages 50 rebounds per game, the sixth-best mark in the country, and pulls in 19.6 offensive boards per game, which ranks seventh-best nationally. Overall, the Moutaineers score 76.9 ppg, while giving up 58.6 points on average. BC holds a field goal percentage of 38.0, shoots 32.9 percent from beyond the arc, and owns a free throw percentage of 69.2.
NO STRANGER TO DEVOS: The Titans are no strangers to DeVos Fieldhouse, the home of the Hope College Fighting Dutch. In fact, Illinois Wesleyan won the 2012 Division III National Championship at DeVos with a 57-48 win over George Fox after a 67-53 triumph against St. Thomas in the national semifinal.
30 FOR 30: A 31-point performance in the CCIW Tournament Championship game, Feb. 29, gave Kendall Sosa her fourth 30+ point game of the season. Previously, Sosa dropped a career-high 35 points at Chicago, Nov. 12, added 31 points at Carroll, Jan. 18, and notched 30 at Millikin, Feb. 12.
Sosa has posted the most 30-point games in program history, and is one of three Titans to record 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) to have accomplished the feat at least three times.
SHARING IS CARING: A key to the Titans success through 27 games of the season has been their selflessness. Illinois Wesleyan has dished out 446 assists, the second-most in the CCIW and the 19th-most in the country. IWU's 16.5 assists per game are 22nd-best in the country.
HOT SHOTS: Illinois Wesleyan has scored 2,014 points this season, the most of any team in the CCIW, and the 26th-most nationally. Meanwhile, the Titans 74.6 points per game is best in the league and 32nd in the country and their field goal percentage of 43.1 is 28th nationally.
Illinois Wesleyan is 17-4 when scoring 67-or-more points, compared to 2-5 when held under the 67-point mark.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK: As a team, the Titans have recorded 110 blocks this season. The Titans' 110 rejections are the most all-time and three better than the previous record set by the 2018-19 squad. Riley Brovelli has tallied 40 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 29 rejections are fourth-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 27 games, she has scored 559 points, second-most in single season history and are second to only Olivia Lett's record setting 719-point season in 2011-12. Her 67 made three-pointers are tied for eighth-most in single season annals.
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 20.7 points per game average, the best in the CCIW and the 17th-best nationally.
Should Sosa finish the year above 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.
THE 49TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a 664-475 overall record. IWU's .583 all-time win percentage includes a 306-190 CCIW mark.
ALL COMES DOWN TO CASHING IN: Free throws have been an indicator of the Titans' success in 2019-20. In fact, IWU is 11-1 when shooting 70 percent-or-better from the charity stripe compared to 6-7 when shooting less than 70 percent from the line. Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan is 13-2 when making 10-or-more free throws.
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 124 career three-pointers are one behind Nina Anderson's 13th-ranked total of 125. Mallory Heydorn holds the program record with 281 career triples from 2005 to 2009.
THE DEAN OF THE CCIW: The 2019-20 season marks the 22nd year under the direction of Mia Smith, the longest tenured coach in the CCIW. Smith's 431 wins are the most among active CCIW coaches by more than 150. Additionally, Smith's 235 CCIW wins are the third-most in league history.
Under the tutelage of Smith, IWU has won nine CCIW Championships and made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Titans won the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship following a fourth-place finish in 2011.
ON THE HORIZON: With a win the Titans will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they will meet the winner of Friday's 7 p.m. EST game between Hope and Grove City. Tipoff of the second round bout is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST Saturday, March 7.
