BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - With the non-conference play complete, the third-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team turns its attention to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. A string of 13 straight conference games gets underway as the Titans travel to King Arena for a 5 p.m. tipoff against Wheaton College. The game will serve as the front end of a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team.
    The Green and White heads into the New Year with a 12-0 overall record, having just completed a perfect non-conference season. IWU most recently bested Trinity University (Texas) and East Texas Baptist University, Dec. 27-28. Illinois Wesleyan sits at 3-0 in CCIW play. The Thunder hold a 7-5 overall record, 2-1 in the CCIW, and will return to action for the first time since Dec. 21. Wheaton has won back-to-back games, most recently edging Westminster College (Mo.), 65-61.
    Fans can catch a live stream of the game, while live stats will also be provided. Matt Sosler will have the call on WESN. Links on can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
KP JOINS 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 25th on the program's all-time scoring list (1008 points), trailing Maggie Lamb's 24th-ranked point total of 1013.
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT: Illinois Wesleyan needed overtime to earn its 11th win as the Titans took down Trinity (Texas), 94-91, Dec. 27. It was the Green and White's first OT game of the season and the first since Dec. 9, 2023 when IWU edged North Central, 68-61.
    Since the 2009-10 season, IWU holds a 9-5 record in games that require overtime. Over that span, the Titans have played one double overtime game - Jan. 28, 2012 at Wheaton, where IWU was topped by the Thunder, 76-74.
BALLI BALLS OUT: Illinois Wesleyan's bench outscored Trinity (Texas), 30-18, in the Titans' 94-91 overtime win, Dec. 27. Sara Balli was a large part of that, popping off for a career-high tying 18 points. Balli converted 7-of-12 shots from floor, including two three-pointers, while grabbing a career-high nine boards and adding a pair of assists. She hit a free throw to put IWU up three, 88-85, with 4:12 left in OT before her tipin with 56 seconds remaining put the Green and White up for good. With Illinois Wesleyan clinging to a three-point lead with less than 10 seconds to play, Balli denied TU's game-tying three-point attempt and hauled in the ensuing rebound to seal the victory.
    With 12 games played this season, Balli is on pace to set career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.
AGAINST THE THUNDER: Saturday's CCIW showdown between Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton will be the 92nd all-time meeting between the two conference foes. The Thunder hold a 56-35 edge in the all-time series, but the Titans have won seven of the past eight tilts including both of last year's meetings.
    Last season, the Green and White rolled to a 74-49 win in Wheaton, Dec. 6, 2023, before completing the sweep with a 78-57 victory inside the Shirk Center Jan. 31, 2024. Kate Palmer was the Titans' leading scorer in both games, going for 18 and 17 points, respectively. Wheaton averaged 27.0 turnovers per game in the two regular season meetings.
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 206 as of Jan. 2. 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 22nd across Division III with 3.33 thefts per game, while her 40 steals are ninth-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 12-0, 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 12 games, Illinois Wesleyan has shown immense poise by way of ball security. The Titans have dished out 193 assists to 172 turnovers, good for a 1.13 assist-to-turnover ratio. IWU's mark is ranked 22nd nationally, while its 14.3 turnovers per game are slotted 43rd-best and its 16.2 assists per game are 45th across Division III.
FEAR THE SECOND TEN LIVES ON: Illinois Wesleyan has commonly used the second quarter to distance itself from opponents. Through 12 games this year, IWU has outscored opponents 244-175, a difference of 69 points. The Titans have outscored all but two opponents in the second period this season, losing the quarter, 26-12, at Carroll, Dec. 7 and 24-9 at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27.
POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan sits inside the top-five in both the D3hoops.com and WBCA Top-25 polls as of Dec. 17. IWU ranks third in the D3hoops.com poll, and climbed up to third in the WBCA list announced Dec. 31. IWU's ranking in D3hoops is the program's highest since being No. 1 following the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.
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 509-207. 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.
THE 54TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, in its 54th year of women's basketball, has compiled a 742-506 overall record. IWU's .595 all-time win percentage includes a 350-203 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
PILED ON THE POINTS: Illinois Wesleyan put up 35 points in the fourth quarter to complete a come-from-behind win at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27. It marked the 39th time since the NCAA switched from halves to quarters ahead of the 2015-16 season that IWU has posted 30+ points in a frame. It was also the third occurrence this season, as the Titans scored 37 points in the second quarter at North Park, Dec. 4. IWU shot 15-for-19 from the field over the 10-minute period.
The point total at NPU is the second-highest in a quarter in program history and the most since Dec. 1, 2021 when the Green and White put up a program-record 39 points against Eureka.
LONG DISTANCE LOVE: Illinois Wesleyan connected on 14 three-pointers in its win over Elmhurst, Dec. 14, as IWU converted 41.2 percent of its 34 attempts. The 14 made triples by the Titans were the most since hitting 14 against Carthage Feb. 10, 2024.
The Green and White's strong showing from distance versus EU saw Kate Palmer drain 4-of-8 three-point tries, while Ava Bardic finished 3-for-4. Mallory Powers and Luigi Lam each went 2-for-3 and Alyssa Epps, Payton Jacob, and Sawyer White added one apiece.
COMEBACK KIDS: Since the start of the 2008-09 season, Illinois Wesleyan has posted 29 wins after trailing by 10-or-more points. The most recent comeback came at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27, as the Green and White erased a 15-point TU lead, including an 11-point Trinity lead going into the fourth quarter. It was the third double-digit comeback for the Titans this season.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan returns to the Shirk Center Wednesday night, Jan. 8, to kick off a three-game homestand. IWU hosts Augustana for a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday night, Jan. 8, before welcoming North Central (Jan. 11) and Carthage (Jan. 15) to the Shirk Center.
