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Caite Knutson vs. UWW
82
Winner Wis.-Whitewater UWW 5-0,0-0 WIAC
80
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Wis.-Whitewater UWW
5-0,0-0 WIAC
82
Final
80
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
3-2,0-0 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wis.-Whitewater UWW 17 21 20 24 82
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 27 12 26 15 80

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Drops Heartbreaker to No. 9 UW-Whitewater

Titans led by as many as 12

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A fourth-quarter lead slipped away as the Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team stumbled to an 82-80 setback against ninth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater inside the Shirk Center Tuesday night, Nov. 21. With the loss, IWU dips to 3-2 on the year, while UWW upped its resume to 5-0.

Sophomore Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) led the Titans with 23 points, while Caite Knutson (Maryville, Ill.-Collinsville) finished with 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Junior Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) tallied 18 points and led the Titans with eight rebounds, while tying fellow junior Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) for the team lead with four assists. Powers added 12 points. 

Illinois Wesleyan shot a blistering 56.5 percent from the floor, hitting 35-of-62 shots on the night. The Titans connected on six three-pointers, four of which came in the first quarter, while going just 4-for-9 at the free throw line. IWU limited UW-Whitewater to 30-of-75 from the floor and 4-for-21 beyond the arc, but the Warhawks converted 18-of-25 freebies.

The Green and White struggled to maintain control down the stretch as 14 turnovers turned into 20 points for the visitors. UWW led in points off miscues, 20-8, and also used a 49-29 lead on the glass to corral a 20-11 lead in second chance scoring.

The Warhawks scored the game's first four points, but a five-point spurt from Knutson gave the Titans a 5-4 lead. Back-to-back triples from Powers opened up an 11-6 IWU advantage.

After a three-ball from Bardic, sophomore Laura Mahlum (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) hit Powers on a backdoor cut to the basket for an easy bucket. The layup extended Illinois Wesleyan's lead to double-digits, 18-8, at the under-five media timeout.

A crafty finish at the basket by Bardic off an assist from Huber stretched the Green and White's lead to 12, 27-15, but a shot at the buzzer gave the Titans a 10-point lead into the second period.

Offensive rebounds proved to be the catalyst for UWW's seven-point run as a putback before the horn cut IWU's lead to just one, 39-38, at the break.

Illinois Wesleyan pushed its lead back to near double digits in the third quarter as junior Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) drove down the paint and kicked back to Bardic for a triple. The big shot gave IWU a 63-54 advantage.

Heading into the final 10 minutes of play with a 65-58 lead, the Titans saw their advantage erased behind a 16-2 UWW run. The spurt saw an and-one with 1:51 to play put the Warhawks on top, 78-76, marking their first lead since the game's early goings. Bardic converted a pair of free throws to keep the deficit at two, 80-78, but UW-Whitewater came right back with a quick layup to reclaim a four-point.

Stepping up the pressure defensively, Palmer and sophomore Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) combined to disrupt UWW as Palmer came away with a steal. The swipe led to a Huber jumper off sophomore Sara Balli's (Lake Park, Ill.-Lake Park) assist to trim the lead to two, 82-80, but time ran out before IWU could muster much more.

Illinois Wesleyan travels to Terre Haute, Ind. after the Thanksgiving holiday for the annual Midwest Challenge Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 25-26. The Titans will take on host Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Saturday, Nov. 25, before battling either DePauw University or Washington University in St. Louis Sunday, Nov. 26.
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