WHEATON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team ran away with a 67-47 win at Wheaton College Tuesday night, Feb. 21, to advance to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Semifinals. Illinois Wesleyan led from wire-to-wire to boost its record to 16-10 on the year. Wheaton's season finished up at 15-11.
 
Freshman Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) erupted for a career-high 22 points, finishing 6-of-7 from three-point range. Senior Katelyn Heller (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard West) and sophomore Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Senior Kelly Carlson (Western Springs, Ill.-Lyons Township) added nine points. Huber completed the double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds, and added four assists and four steals. Heller tallied a team-high five assists.
 
The Green and White shot 43.9 percent from the floor (25-for-57) and connected on 6-of-16 three-point attempts. IWU finished 11-for-22 from the free throw line. Illinois Wesleyan stymied Wheaton, limiting the Thunder to a 28.1 clip (16-for-57) overall and just 1-for-18 from beyond the arc.
 
Each team finished with 41 rebounds, while IWU dished out 17 assists and swiped 13 steals. WC committed 21 miscues and tallied just six assists. The Titans held advantages in points off turnovers (18-15), points in the paint (30-28), and fastbreak scoring (7-4).
 
Carlson kicked off the game with a putback and White drilled the game's first three-ball to drive IWU to a 5-0 lead.
 
A momentum-grabbing and one from Carlson started an 10-0 Titan run. The scoring streak was capped as a heady pass from freshman Sara Balli (Lake Park, Ill.-Lake Park) to White resulted in a three to up the IWU lead to 15-2 with 4:30 left in the first quarter.
 
Wheaton battled back over the next four minutes as Illinois Wesleyan lead 19-10 after the first period.
 
Huber converted back-to-back buckets to begin the second quarter, before hitting a jumper late in the period to reclaim a double-digit lead. White ended the half with a buzzer-beating three to send IWU to the break in front, 34-18.
 
The Thunder trimmed the Titan lead to a dozen but never got any closer as Illinois Wesleyan ran away with a 20-point victory.
 
With the win, IWU advances to Friday night's semifinal at Millikin University. Tipoff between the Titans and Big Blue is set for 7:15 p.m. inside MU's Griswold Center.