BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team hosts Carroll University in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash Saturday, Dec. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will serve as the front end of a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team.
    The Titans moved to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW with a dominating, 101-71, win over Elmhurst University Wednesday night, Nov. 29. The victory marked IWU's third straight. The Pioneers pushed their record to 5-2 on the year and 1-0 in league play with wins in each of their past two games. Most recently, CU cruised to a, 92-62, home win over North Central College, Nov. 29.
    Matt Sosler will call the play-by-play alongside analysis from Emma Thorman on the live stream, while live stats for the game will also be available. Links on how to follow the game can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of iwusports.com.

GREEN DOT: The Green Dot leadership team, SAAC, Student Senate, and CAB are co-sponsoring this Saturday's games. Green Dot is the bystander intervention training program used on campus that is meant to prevent Power-Based Personal Violence. The purpose of the Green Dot theme at these games is to continue to spread awareness about Green Dot, the importance of bystander intervention, and the sentiment that power-based personal violence has no place in our campus community. In anticipation of these games, both basketball teams have gone through Green Dot training.
The Green Dot leadership team, SAAC, and Student Senate will be tabling at Saturday's basketball games with information about Green Dot, prizes (including Green Dot rally towels!), and will be selling Green Dot game T-shirts with proceeds going to a local organization that supports the prevention of power-based personal violence.

ANYONE'S NIGHT, ANY NIGHT: The 2023-24 season has displayed the balance of the Titans roster as IWU has seen 32 double-digit performances and seven 20-point efforts through just seven games. IWU has seen four different players lead the team in scoring this season.

COMMA CLUB: Junior Lauren Huber, who eclipsed 1,000 career points last month, will be recognized prior to tipoff of IWU's showdown with Carroll Saturday evening, Dec. 2. Huber needed just 63 career games to join the exclusive club. She scored 367 points as a freshman, 505 as a sophomore, and 148 this season to put her career total at 1,020 as of Dec. 1.

NOBODY HAS SCORED MORE: The Titans have scored a whopping 655 points this season, the most of any Division III team. IWU is scoring 81.9 points per game, good for 11th-best in the country. The Green and White's offensive outburst has come with a 44.4 field goal percentage, the 23rd-best nationally.

BALL OUT BALLI: Sophomore Sara Balli turned in the best performance of her Titan career in IWU's rout of Elmhurst, Nov. 29. Balli went for a career-high 18 points, the first double-digit performance of her career, on 7-of-12 shooting. She also pulled in four rebounds and added two assists, two steals, and a block.

PLAYING THE PIOS: Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll will square off for the 28th time when the two battle Saturday. The Pios hold a 16-11 edge in the all-time series, but the Titans have held the upperhand since Carroll rejoined the CCIW. IWU has won 11 of the past 13 meetings, while the two teams split last season's series. The 2022-23 campaign saw the home team protect their own court as Carroll took the initial meeting, 75-57, Dec. 3, in Waukesha before IWU evened things up with a 78-55 win at home Feb. 4.

DROPPING DIMES: Illinois Wesleyan has been at its best when its ball movement has been on point, as the Green and White rank second in the conference and 14th in Division III with 18.1 assists per game. Individually, Mallory Powers leads the Titans with 27 assists, good for third in the CCIW and 38th nationally. Ava Bardic has been credited with 25 helpers, 62nd-most in Division III, while Kate Palmer has 23 (78th nationally) and Lauren Huber has 22 (101st nationally). Sawyer White is slotted 119th in Division III with 22 dimes.
In fact, Illinois Wesleyan is the only Division III school with five players ranked inside the nation's top-120 in assists.

THAT CLOSE TO PERFECTION: Illinois Wesleyan holds a 6-2 record through seven games, but could just as easily have seen those two loses go the other way. The Titans two setbacks on the year have come at the hands of nationally-ranked opponent in Hope (80-73) and UW-Whitewater (82-80) by margins that could have been made up at the free throw line. Against the Flying Dutch, IWU went just 5-for-13 at the free throw line, while in the UWW bout the Titans finished 4-for-9 at the stripe.

A DEEPER LOOK: Through eight games, Illinois Wesleyan has developed some clear keys to victory this season. IWU, known for its frantic full court press, is 6-0 when winning the turnover battle versus an 0-2 record when committing more miscues than the opposition. Additionally, the Titans have fared better when getting to the free throw line more than their opponent. In fact, IWU is 5-0 when attempting more free throws and 1-2 when shooting fewer than its opponent.

THE DEAN OF THE CCIW: The 2023-24 season marks the 26th year under the direction of Mia Smith, the longest tenured coach in the CCIW. Smith's 480 wins are the most among active CCIW coaches by more than 150 and 23rd-most among active Division III head coaches. Additionally, Smith's CCIW wins are the second-most in league history.
    Under the tutelage of Smith, IWU has won 10 CCIW Championships and made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Titans won the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship following a fourth-place finish in 2011.

THE 53rd YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, now in its 53rd year of women's basketball, has compiled a 713-502 overall record. IWU's .587 all-time win percentage includes a 336-201 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.

HOME COOKING: One of the greatest venues in NCAA Division III, the Shirk Center has been home to more than 600 Titan basketball games between both the men and women. In its 27-year history, the women have won 252 of 334 of its home games, good for a .754 win percentage.

ON THE HORIZON: The Titans jet off on a six-game road stint after Saturday, with IWU's next home game set for after the New Year. The Titans will travel to Wheaton Wednesday, Dec. 6, before treking to North Central, Chicago, Hendrix, Augustana,  North Park.