BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Following its second and final College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin bye of the season, the second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team travels to R.A. Faganel Hall Saturday, Feb. 1, for a battle with Elmhurst University. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will kick off a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team.
    The Titans travel to Elmhurst, Ill. with an 18-0 record, highlighted by a 9-0 start to league play. IWU most recently overpowered Wheaton College, 93-57, inside the Shirk Center, Jan. 25. Elmhurst bumped its record to 12-6 overall and 4-6 in the CCIW with an 80-71 win over Augustana College, Jan. 29. Three of EU's four league wins have come on its home floor.
    Matt Sosler on WESN, while live stats and a live stream will be provided. Links on can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

HUNGRY FOR MORE: With their win over No. 18 Chicago, Dec. 17, the Titans ran their record to 10-0 on the season. Now at 18-0, 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.
    With a win, Illinois Wesleyan would match its best start since the 2008-09 season. That year, the Titans won their first 30 games before stumbling, 58-53, against WashU in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

SUPER POWERS II: A career week saw Mallory Powers garner CCIW Player of the Week honors as well as a spot on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week, Jan. 27. Powers averaged 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game as IWU took down Millikin and Wheaton, Jan. 22-25. Powers was picked as the league's weekly winner for the second time in her career, while she became the ninth player in program history to earn national team of the week recognition. Her stat-stuffing showings came on incredibly efficient shooting as Powers connected on 13-of-21 shot attempts, good for a 61.9 clip. She was even better from beyond the arc, going 8-for-12 (66.7 percent), and finished 4-for-5 at the free throw line.

IN RARE AIR: Lauren Huber eclipsed the 1500-career point mark in IWU's win over Carthage, Jan. 15. She is just the third player in program history to clear 1500 points. Huber's career point total of 1533 is 44 points behind Molly McGraw (1577) and 99 behind the program's all-time leading scorer, Traci Butler.
Nationally, Huber is one of nine active Division III women's basketball players with 1500+ points and 750+ career rebounds. She is 23rd across Division III among active players in scoring and is 25th among active players with 777 career rebounds.

BATTLING THE BLUEJAYS: Saturday's CCIW clash will mark the 85th all-time meeting between Illinois Wesleyan and Elmhurst since the two first tangled during the 1981-82 campaign. The Titans own a 68-16 edge in the all-time series and have won 16 straight against Elmhurst. Additionally, IWU is 50-6 against EU under Mia Smith.
    Earlier this season, Illinois Wesleyan used a 31-point second quarter to dispatch Elmhurst, 93-56. The Titans trailed 18-16 after 10 minutes but outscored the Bluejays, 31-8, over the next 10 minutes to coast to the win. Kate Palmer and Lauren Huber tied for the team lead with 14 points apiece, while Mallory Powers added 12 points as 13 Titans notched points.

LONG DISTANCE LOVE: Illinois Wesleyan connected on 12 three-pointers in its throttling of Wheaton, Jan. 25, as IWU converted 44.4 percent of its 27 three-point tries. It marked the third time this season the Green and White has hit 10+ triples and is the first occurrence since Dec. 14, when IWU knocked down 14 against Elmhurst.
    The Green and White's strong showing from distance versus Wheaton saw Mallory Powers drain 5-of-9 triple attempts, while Ava Bardic hit three. Luigi Lam finished 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, with Kate Palmer and Sara Balli converting one each.

SCORERS SCORE: Illinois Wesleyan's offense has been one of the best around Division III this season. In fact, IWU's 1400 total points scored ranks 16th-most nationally, while its 77.8 points per game are slotted 11th.

DEFENSE LOCKED IN IN 2025: Since the calendar flipped to 2025, Titans have taken their defensive play to another level. In six games in the new year, Illinois Wesleyan is holding opponents to 52.8 points per game - a 7.1 point improvement from its season average of 59.9 points per contest. Opponents have connected on just 117-of-330 field goal attempts (35.5 percent) and 31-of-116 three-point tries (26.7 percent), while averaging 24.0 turnovers per game with 144 total over the six-game span.

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 266 of 350 of its home games, good for a .760 win percentage.
This season, IWU is 7-0 inside the friendly confines of the Shirk Center. The Titans posted an 8-3 record on their home floor during the 2023-24 campaign.

POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan held steady inside the top-five in both the D3hoops.com and WBCA Top-25 polls as of Jan. 28. IWU ranks second in the D3hoops.com poll, having earned one first-place vote, and held at third in the WBCA list announced Jan. 28. IWU's ranking in D3hoops is the program's highest since being No. 1 following the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.

EXPERIENCE PAYING DIVIDENDS: Through 18 games, Illinois Wesleyan has shown immense poise by way of ball security. The Titans have dished out 291 assists to 257 turnovers, good for a 1.14 assist-to-turnover ratio. IWU's mark is ranked 17th nationally, while its 14.3 turnovers per game are slotted 48th-best and its 16.2 assists per game are 37th across Division III.

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 223 as of Jan. 29. 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, with White ranking tied for third all-time alongside Schulte.
    The Downers Grove, Ill. native, who set the program's single-season steals record a season ago, is 27th across Division III with 3.17 thefts per game, while her 57 steals are 24th-most.

FEAR THE SECOND TEN LIVES ON: Illinois Wesleyan has commonly used the second quarter to distance itself from opponents. Through 18 games this year, IWU has outscored opponents 350-235, a difference of 115 points. The Titans have lost the quarter just twice over 17 games - 26-12, at Carroll, Dec. 7 and 24-9, at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27.

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 515-207.  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.

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 20th on the program's all-time scoring list (1062 points), trailing Colleen McMahon's 19th-ranked point total of 1068.

ON THE HORIZON: The CCIW slate rolls on Wednesday, Feb. 5, as the Titans host league foe Carroll University inside the Shirk Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will see Illinois Wesleyan's latest CSC Academic All-America selection, Kannyn Boyd, recognized at halftime. Boyd was a key addition to an IWU women's volleyball squad that saw the Green and White run through the CCIW and claim the league's regular season and tournament titles before ending the season with a NCAA Division III Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance.