HOLLAND, Mich. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball opened the season in convincing fashion Friday afternoon, Nov. 11, on day one of the Hope College Tipoff Tournament at DeVos Fieldhouse. The Titans (1-0) led from wire-to-wire in an, 86-38, clobbering of Concordia University-Wisconsin.
Illinois Wesleyan used its daunting run-and-jump full-court press to control the game. IWU forced 28 CUW turnovers, which the Titans turned into 38 points. The Green and White limited the Falcons to a 27.7 field goal percentage, including an 18.2 clip from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, IWU corralled 16 steals and shot 49.3 percent from the floor.
Sophomore Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) and senior
Katelyn Heller (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard West) flirted with double-doubles in the win. Huber tallied game-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action, while Heller finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and a team-best three assists. Sophomore
Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) also finished in double figures, scoring 16 points.
Concordia-Wisconsin tied the score at two after sophomore Kate Palmer's (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) putback gave IWU the first points of the game. It was all Titans from there as a swipe and score by Powers pushed the Green and White ahead, 15-4, to force a Falcon timeout with 5:50 left to go in the first quarter.
Huber stretched the Illinois Wesleyan advantage to double digits on an and-one before Heller hit a pull-up jumper to end the opening period, 25-12, in favor of the Titans.
After a slow offensive start by both teams in the second quarter, Huber got things rolling. A bucket by the sophomore proved to be the start of a 14-5 run by the Titans, which was capped by a three-ball from Powers. The triple with 2:36 to go in the half gave IWU a 22-point lead, 39-17.
Up by 20 points in the second half, Illinois Wesleyan continued to tighten things up on the defensive end. IWU held CUW to just 17 points over the final 20 minutes of play, as the Falcons scored nine points in the third and eight in the fourth.
Meanwhile, the Titan bench came on strong in the final stanza. After a pair of free throws by freshman Martha Lipic (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest), junior
Emma Kornak (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) nailed a three-ball to up the IWU lead to 73-31 with under eight minutes remaining. Lipic followed with a triple and jumper before senior
Claire Retherford (Foosland, Ill.-Gibson City/Melvin-Sibley) and freshman
Payton Jacob (St. Joseph, Ill.-St. Joseph Ogden) joined the scoring party. A six-point run by Jacob herself lifted the Green and White to a 51-point lead with 2:15 to play.
Three free throws late by Concordia-Wisconsin finished off the 86-38 season-opening victory for the Titans.
Illinois Wesleyan will wrap up its opening weekend tomorrow, Nov. 12, with a game against the winner of tonight's game between No. 1 Hope and Geneva.
