BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team welcomes North Central College to the Shirk Center for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin battle Saturday, Jan. 11. The game, which will tipoff at 2 p.m., will serve as the front end of a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team and will kick off the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Shirk Center.
The Titans bring a 14-0 record into Saturday's bout, including a 5-0 CCIW mark. IWU most recently stymied Augustana College, 75-38, at Shirk Jan. 8. The Cardinals stand at 6-7 overall and are 2-2 in league games. North Central has stumbled as of late, dropping four of its past five games. NCC most recently left Decatur with an 80-69 setback at the hands of Millikin University, Jan. 8.
Fans can catch a live stream of the game, while live stats will also be provided. Matt Sosler and Brittany Carper will have the call on WESN. Links on can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
30 NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD: Saturday's game against North Central will be the start of a day full of celebration inside the Shirk Center as Illinois Wesleyan celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Shirk Center. Since January of 1994, the Shirk Center for Athletics and Recreation has served as a hub for Titan athletics, Illinois Wesleyan, and the Bloomington-Normal community. The venue has been home to six NCAA Division III national championships and hosts more than 100 community events each year.
    The main performance arena can seat up to 2,680 for indoor sporting events. The facility also houses four multi-use courts, multiple golf rooms and bays, a racquetball court, a 200-meter track, training rooms, classrooms, and athletic department offices.
    In 2016, another major gift from the Shirk family and the Shirk Family Foundation was used to expand the fitness and athletic team space on the building's east side. The two-story expansion doubled the size of existing fitness facilities, provided multipurpose rooms for athletic and recreational use, added locker rooms for teams, and addressed other training and storage needs.
GOLD GLOVES: Illinois Wesleyan will recognize a pair of Titan softball student-athletes at halftime of Saturday's game as Ava Khoury and Casey Wissmiller will be presented with their Rawlings Gold Glove Awards earned this past spring. The first Gold Glove Award recipients in program history, Khoury and Wissmiller helped guide IWU to the sixth-best fielding percentage across Division III in 2024.
HOME COOKING: One of the greatest venues in NCAA Division III, the Shirk Center has been home to more than 750 Titan basketball games between the men and women. In its 30-year history, the women have won 263 of 347 of its home games, good for a .758 win percentage.
    This season, IWU is 4-0 inside the friendly confines of the Shirk Center. The Titans posted an 8-3 record on their home floor during the 2023-24 campaign.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!: Illinois Wesleyan has held opponents below 50 points 48 times since the start of the 2008-09 campaign. The most recent occasion came versus Augustana, Jan. 8, as the Titans rolled to a 75-38 victory. The win came on the heels of a 59-45 triumph at Wheaton, Jan. 4.
In holding Augustana to just 38 points, Jan. 8, Illinois Wesleyan gave up its fewest points in a game since limiting Concordia Wisconsin to 38 Nov. 11, 2022. The Titans downed the Falcons, 86-38, in the 2022-23 lid lifter. Additionally, the point total is the fewest IWU has held a CCIW opponent to since defeating Augustana, 90-33, inside the Shirk Center Feb. 12, 2009.
POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan sits inside the top-five in both the D3hoops.com and WBCA Top-25 polls as of Jan. 7. IWU ranks second in the D3hoops.com poll, having earned one first-place vote, and held at third in the WBCA list announced Jan. 7. IWU's ranking in D3hoops is the program's highest since being No. 1 following the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.
SHE'LL TAKE THAT X200: The Green and White's high-motor pressure, especially in its run-and-jump, has caused opponents fits this season. Leading the effort for the Titans has been junior Sawyer White, who has become equally well-known for her thieving abilities on the court as she is for a good celebration griddy on the bench. With four steals in Illinois Wesleyan's win over No. 18 Chicago, White hit 200 steals for her career, becoming just the fifth Titan in program history to do so. Her career total currently stands at 215 as of Jan. 9. Rebekah Ehresman holds the record with 296 accrued during her career from 2014 to 2018, while Sydney Shanks is second with 233. Hope Schulte (223) and Christina Solari (216) are the only other two Titans to surpass 200 steals in their careers.
    The Downers Grove, Ill. native, who set the program's single-season steals record a season ago, is 20th across Division III with 3.50 thefts per game, while her 49 steals are sixth-most.
PERFECT 10, IN SEARCH OF MORE: With their win over No. 18 Chicago, Dec. 17, the Titans ran their record to 10-0 on the season. Now at 14-0, IWU's off to its best start since the 2009-10 campaign, when the Green and White won its first 18 contests. IWU went on to finish 28-2 overall, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Tournament, where its season came to an end with a heartbreaking, 77-76, loss to UW-Stevens Point.
EXPERIENCE PAYING DIVIDENDS: Through 14 games, Illinois Wesleyan has shown immense poise by way of ball security. The Titans have dished out 221 assists to 200 turnovers, good for a 1.11 assist-to-turnover ratio. IWU's mark is ranked 27th nationally, while its 14.3 turnovers per game are slotted 42nd-best and its 15.9 assists per game are 52nd across Division III.
DEAN OF THE CCIW: Veteran head coach Mia Smith earned her 500th career win as Illinois Wesleyan rolled past Edgewood, 88-57, in its home opener Saturday, Nov. 23. Smith, who has accrued all of her wins at the helm of the Titans, is just the second coach in CCIW history to win at least 500 games. She carries a career record of 511-207. The current conference leader in wins among active head coaches, Smith's career win total ranks second in league laurels. Additionally, her win total is 21st-most across all of active Division III head coaches.
  Under the tutelage of Smith, IWU has won 10 CCIW Championships and made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Titans won the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship following a fourth-place finish in 2011.
FEAR THE SECOND TEN LIVES ON: Illinois Wesleyan has commonly used the second quarter to distance itself from opponents. Through 14 games this year, IWU has outscored opponents 272-193, a difference of 79 points. The Titans have lost the quarter just twice over 14 games - 26-12, at Carroll, Dec. 7 and 24-9 at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27.
THE 54TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, in its 54th year of women's basketball, has compiled a 744-506 overall record. IWU's .595 all-time win percentage includes a 352-203 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
CLIMBING THE COMMA CLUB: Senior Kate Palmer hit a free throw in overtime against Trinity (Texas) to push her career point total to 1000 through 98 career games. Palmer is just the 26th member of the exclusive club. The Geneva, Ill. native currently ranks 24th on the program's all-time scoring list (1021 points), trailing Nikki Preston's 23rd-ranked point total of 1027.
ON THE HORIZON: The final leg of a three-game homestand sees the Green and White host Carthage College Wednesday, Jan. 15. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
