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Women's basketball team huddle at Wartburg
Kodiak Creative
59
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 23-6,14-2 CCIW
62
Winner Wartburg WAR 27-2,16-0 American Rivers
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
23-6,14-2 CCIW
59
Final
62
Wartburg WAR
27-2,16-0 American Rivers
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 14 15 6 24 59
Wartburg WAR 14 10 17 21 62

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Comeback Falls Short as Women’s Hoops Sees Season End at Wartburg

Titans finish the season with 23-6 record

Press Conference

WAVERLY, Iowa - A ferocious fourth-quarter comeback fell shy as the 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team saw its season come to a close with a 62-59 loss at No. 6 Wartburg College Saturday night, March 2, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan ends the year with a 23-6 overall record, while Wartburg advances to the Sweet Sixteen holding a 27-2 mark.

Junior Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard South) put together a stat-stuffing performance with a team-high 21 points and 14 rebounds. Also finishing in double figures was junior Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Palmer tied junior Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) with a team-high three assists each.

A layup from Huber pulled Illinois Wesleyan within a bucket, 21-19, with 5:18 left in the second period. The layup proved to be the start of an IWU run as Huber kicked out to Palmer for a three-ball to push the Titans up one, 22-21. The junior duo continued the run with back-to-back buckets to stretch the advantage to seven with two minutes left in the half.

A three-ball by Wartburg's Britney Young halted the run, but Palmer converted a free throw to give IWU a five-point edge going into the break.

The third quarter saw the Knights score the first seven points as Wartburg reclaimed the lead, 31-29, two minutes in. A jumper by sophomore Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) ended the run and evened the score at 31 all. The bucket was followed by a defensive grind that saw IWU hold WC scoreless for more than three minutes, but miscues kept the Titans from capitalizing.

Wartburg's momentum carried over into the fourth quarter, as the Knights pushed their lead to double digits. A three-pointer with 7:02 remaining gave WC its largest lead of the night, 52-38.

Junior Caite Knutson (Maryville, Ill.-Collinsville) kicked out to sophomore Laura Mahlum (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) for a deep three-pointer to end a Wartburg run, but WC punched right back with a trey of its own.

Trailing by 14 with five and a half minutes left, the Titans never quit. A pair of buckets from Huber and a layup by White pulled IWU within nine, 56-47, before six straight points from Huber brought the Titans within a three-pointer with 2:06 on the clock.

A key and-one from Knutson with just under a minute to go had the Titans within one, 57-56, but a pair of free throws and a layup pushed Wartburg's cushion back to five, 61-56, with 10 seconds left.

Sophomore Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) drilled a three-pointer to trim the deficit to two, 61-59, off an assist from Powers. 

The Titans put the Knights on the free throw line with six seconds left in the game, where Wartburg went 1-for-2 to give IWU a chance at the game-tying bucket. 

A quick in-bounds moved the ball down the floor quickly, allowing the Green and White to get a shot attempt off, but it was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.

Illinois Wesleyan, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Co-Champions, finish the season with a 23-6 overall record. IWU's win total is its highest since 2018-19, when the Titans went 23-5. 

 
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