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WBB | IWU vs WashU
Kodiak Creative
63
Winner Chicago UC 7-3,0-0 UAA
62
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 5-5,3-0 CCIW
Winner
Chicago UC
7-3,0-0 UAA
63
Final
62
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
5-5,3-0 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Chicago UC 16 10 18 19 63
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21 10 17 14 62

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Upended by Maroons

Titan win streak snapped at four

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team saw its win streak snapped Saturday afternoon, Dec. 18, at the hands of the University of Chicago. The Titans led by as many as nine in the contest, but were held scoreless for the final 3:50 as the Maroons topped IWU 63-62. 

Back-to-back three-pointers by senior Brooke Lansford (Leawood, Kan.-Blue Valley West) and freshman Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) put the Green and White up 62-53 with 3:50 left in regulation. Chicago rallied out of a timeout though, closing the game on a 10-0 run, including the game-winning layup by Klaire Steffens with 1.9 seconds left. 

The Titans had a chance for the game-winner, but a pass into the middle of the lane was picked off, sealing the defeat and halting IWU's win streak at four games. 

Lanford led all scorers with 18 points. She tied senior Kaia Bowen (Rantoul, Ill.-St. Thomas More) for the team lead with seven rebounds. Freshman Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) added 14 points, while Palmer contributed 13 points and three assists off the bench.

As a team, Chicago was more efficient from the field, shooting 24-for-53 (45.3 percent) to IWU's 21-for-58 showing (36.2 percent). Illinois Wesleyan held the edge from three-point range, as the Titans hit 8-of-19 three-point tries. The Maroons went just 2-for-22 from distance. IWU was 12-for-14 from the free throw line, while UC went 13-for-16 at the stripe.

Illinois Wesleyan forced 26 UC turnovers, led by  junior Katelyn Heller's (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard West) four steals. Bowen added three thefts. The Titans turned the miscues into a 33-16 advantage in points off turnovers, and also held slim leads in fast break points (11-7) and bench points (15-5). Chicago used 15 offensive rebounds, which were part of a 37-31 UC rebounding lead overall, to compile a 22-10 lead in second chance points. The Maroons also tallied 34 points in the paint to just 22 from the Titans.

Chicago held the upper hand early, but a Powers three-ball cut the Maroons' lead to 8-7 with 5:50 to go in the first quarter. The triple proved to be a spark for the Green and White, as Palmer found Carlson for a baseline jumper moments later to give IWU a 14-10 lead at the 4:50 media timeout. 

A five-point spurt from Lansford, a three-pointer and a pull-up jumper, pushed Illinois Wesleyan ahead 19-10, but Chicago closed the period with a buzzer-beating putback to trim the Titan lead to 21-16 after 10 minutes of play.

It was the full-court press that paced the Green and White early, as IWU turned eight Chicago miscues into 12 first-quarter points.

An even second period saw the Titans' five-point lead remain at halftime, as Illinois Wesleyan went to the locker room up 31-26.

The second half was full of runs back-and-forth. Chicago came out strong initially, using an 8-0 run to take a 34-31 lead before an Illinois Wesleyan timeout. 

After playing through a pair of ties, Palmer knocked down a triple to put the Titans on top, 43-40, with 1:43 to go in the third. Lansford followed with a three-ball of her own, as the Green and White's lead stood at 48-44 into the final period. 

In the fourth, the runs continued. IWU pushed its advantage to as many as nine before UC mounted its comeback and upended the Green and White, 63-62.

Illinois Wesleyan closes out the calendar year with a trip to the Pacific Northwest, Dec. 30-31. There, IWU will battle George Fox Dec. 30, followed by a game at Pacific, Dec. 31.

 
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