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Kate Palmer - at Illinois State
Ashtin Elder
74
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 2-0,0-0 CCIW
65
Hope Hope 2-1,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
2-0,0-0 CCIW
74
Final
65
Hope Hope
2-1,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 18 20 16 20 74
Hope Hope 16 12 21 16 65

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Holds Off No. 9 Hope to Move to 2-0

Palmer & Powers named to all-tournament team

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The 10th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team finished off a perfect weekend with a 74-65 win over No. 9 Hope College Saturday, Nov. 16, in the final game of the Calvin-Hope Classic at Van Noord Arena. IWU (2-0) saw seniors Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) and Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) named to the all-tournament team, while Hope dipped to 2-1. 

Four Titans were good for double digits performances as Palmer, Powers, senior Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East), and junior Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) paced the Green and White. Palmer scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while leading the team with three blocks. Powers and Huber each posted near double-doubles, with Powers going for 17 points and nine boards. Huber added 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Balli also finished with a dozen points. Junior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) scored nine points to go along with a team-leading seven assists. 

As a team, IWU connected on 28-of-59 shots to post a 47.5 field goal percentage. Illinois Wesleyan was 4-for-13 from three-point range and 14-for-18 beyond the arc. The Titans held Hope to a 34.4 shooting percentage (22-for-64) overall and an 8-for-28 showing from distance. The Flying Dutch went 13-of-16 from the charity stripe.

Illinois Wesleyan controlled the boards, 40-35, and earned an 8-5 edge in second-chance scoring. IWU dominated the transition to the tune of a 16-1 scoring advantage, while the Titans posted nine points on 13 Hope miscues.

Senior Caite Knutson (Maryville, Ill. Collinsville) found Powers for a layup to crack the scoreboard first, and Bardic fed Huber for a bucket to give the Green and White an early 4-0 lead with 9:15 remaining in the opening quarter. 

Hope hit free throws with 13 seconds left in the first to cut IWU's lead to two, as the Titans closed the first quarter ahead, 18-16. 

Bardic pulled down a defensive rebound to set up the Titan offense, who capitalized as Powers drained a three off a dish from Palmer, pushing IWU to a 21-16 lead. 

Junior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) would later replicate that effort with a rebound to set up a Huber-to-Palmer connection for a layup, giving IWU a 33-21 advantage with three minutes left in the half. Hope closed out the opening half with a pair of free throws, as the Green and White led by 10, 38-28, into the break. 

After a Palmer layup put IWU up 48-36, Hope reverted to a full substitution sweep in an effort to stun the Titans with six straight points.

Palmer opened up the final quarter with a layup, facilitated by Knutson to gain a 56-49 advantage. 

Hope managed to bring the score within two with six minutes left to play, but a pair of free throws for Knutson, Bardic, and Balli, each, saw the Titans with a 66-58 cushion. 

Palmer capped off her 20-point showing with a layup in the final 45 seconds to seal IWU's 74-65 victory. 

Illinois Wesleyan will make their Shirk Center season debut Saturday, Nov. 23 with a 1 p.m. game against Edgewood. 


 
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