ELMHURST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory Wednesday night, Feb. 1. The Titans defeated Elmhurst University on the road 81-47. The Titans improve to 12-9 on the season and 7-5 in CCIW play. Meanwhile, the Bluejays fall to 2-17 on the season and 0-11 in league play.
Fourteen different Titans scored in the victory, led by Katelyn Heller (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard West) with 12 points and four steals. Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) added 11 points and five assists. Freshman Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, six assists and four steals. Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) rounded out the Titan's double digit scorers with 10 points and six rebounds.
Defense was the story for Illinois Wesleyan, as the Green and White forced 25 Bluejay turnovers to the Titan's seven. The Titans additionally held Elmhurst to a 16-of-47 (34 percent) shooting performance, including a 5-of-21 clip from beyond the arc (23.8 percent). Conversely, Illinois Wesleyan shot 34-of-71 (47.9 percent) from the field, including a 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) performance from deep. The Titans won the points in the paint battle 44-22, as well as converted 31 points off turnovers compared to the Bluejays seven.
The Titans started off strong, gaining an early 12-3 lead, thanks to buckets by Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park), Heller, Huber, and Palmer. The Bluejays stormed back, going on a 7-0 run in the middle of the first quarter to cut the Titan's lead to three. A layup by Heller would put a stop to the Bluejays run, as a Balli bucket would end the first quarter scoring and give the Titans a 22-17 lead after the first.
The Titans would utilize a huge second quarter to take a commanding lead going into halftime, outscoring the Bluejays 23-5 in the second period. Starting with a bucket from Heller, the Titans would go on a 16-0 run, holding the Bluejays scoreless for over six minutes. Going into the break, the Green and White enjoyed a 45-22 lead.
The third quarter brought much of the same for Titans, as back to back threes by Sawyer White opened up a 53-22 lead and forced a Bluejays timeout with over eight minutes. White picked up where she left off after the timeout, sinking another bucket, to complete a 7-0 run on her own.
White would assist the next two Titan buckets, scored by Palmer and Huber, giving the Titans a 62-26 lead midway through the third. A Laura Mahlum (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) three at the buzzer gave the Titans a 71-35 lead heading into the final period.
Buckets by Claire Retherford (Foosland, Ill.-Gibson City/Melvin-Sibley), Taylor Tarver (Oswego, Ill.-Oswego), Emma Kornak (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva), and Launi Chauthaboury (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) in the final 10 minutes of play would cap off a successful midweek road trip for the Green and White.
The Titans return home for the Pink Zone game on Saturday, Feb. 4 against Carroll University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside the Shirk Center and will serve as the front end of a double header with the IWU men's basketball team.
