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Sara Balli driving to the basket vs. Illinois State
© AshtinElder
79
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1-0,0-0 CCIW
60
Calvin Calvin 1-3,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
1-0,0-0 CCIW
79
Final
60
Calvin Calvin
1-3,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 23 25 18 13 79
Calvin Calvin 22 11 16 11 60

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Wins Opener at Calvin

Titans to play No. 9 Hope tomorrow, Nov. 16

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A strong second quarter propelled the 10th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team to a 79-60 season-opening win over Calvin University Friday evening, Nov. 15, at Van Noord Arena. Five players scored in double-figures as the Titans moved to 1-0 on the season. The Knights dropped to 1-3 on the year.

Junior Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) led IWU in scoring with 15 points, while also adding five rebounds.  Senior Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) tallied 14 points, with Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) contributing 13 points. Junior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) and senior Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) added 12 and 11 points, respectively. 

Huber and Powers tied for the team lead with nine rebounds apiece, while Bardic paced IWU with four steals. Junior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) added three thefts and tied Palmer with a team-high three assists. 

As a team, the Green and White hit 26-of-62 shots, good for a 41.9 clip. The Knights finished 22-for-58 (37.9 percent). IWU hit eight three-pointers to six by Calvin, while also leading in points off turnovers (20-9), points in the paint (32-20), fastbreak scoring (17-2), and second-chance scoring (17-15).

The first quarter looked much like a track meet as the two teams raced up and down the floor. Three-pointers by Powers and Bardic lifted the Titans to an early 6-4 advantage, but the Knights battled back to take a 13-11 edge into the game's first media timeout.

Calvin drove its lead to four, 18-14, with 3:16 to play before White kicked to Bardic for a three-ball to trim the deficit to one. A swipe and score by Balli reclaimed an IWU lead, 19-18, before the junior tracked down an offensive board and hit the putback to stretch the lead to three, 21-18.

The Knights used two buckets in the final 1:10 of the quarter as the Titans carried a 23-22 lead into the second quarter.

Senior Caite Knutson (Maryville, Ill.-Collinsville) got the Green and White off to a strong start in the second 10, as she slipped passes to Powers and Palmer for open buckets. The senior then converted a free throw before junior Laura Mahlum (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) and Huber hit freebies to give IWU a double-digit lead, 34-22. 

Getting the ball on the baseline, Bardic kicked out to the top of the key for a three-ball from White with 5:12 on the clock. Huber finished off the 16-0 run with a fade-away putback as IWU sat in front, 39-22.

A free throw with 3:56 gave Calvin its first point of the quarter as Illinois Wesleyan carried a 48-33 lead into halftime.

The Titans stretched their lead to as many as 20 out of the half as Huber hit a layup and then kicked out to Balli for a triple to give IWU a 55-35 advantage. Calvin pulled back within 14 late in the period, but Powers drilled a three-pointer off an assist from Palmer to push the Green and White ahead, 66-49, into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter featured the first points in the career of freshman Alyssa Epps (Berkeley, Ill.-Montini Catholic), who hit a bucket late in the period, as IWU grabbed a 79-60 victory over Calvin.

Illinois Wesleyan gets right back to it tomorrow, Nov. 16, with a battle against ninth-ranked Hope College. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. ET inside Van Noord Arena.
 


 
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