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Asia Kobylarczyk running out for lineups
Kodiak Creative
88
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 2-1,0-0 CCIW
56
Franciscan FRN 3-4,0-0 PAC
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
2-1,0-0 CCIW
88
Final
56
Franciscan FRN
3-4,0-0 PAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 27 28 18 15 88
Franciscan FRN 18 12 10 16 56

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Rolls Past Barons

Titans improve to 2-1

HOLLAND, Mich. - The 10th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team got back in the win column Friday evening, Nov. 21, at the Hope College Tipoff Tournament. The Titans began their weekend trip to Michigan with a 88-56 win over Franciscan University inside DeVos Fieldhouse.

Senior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) led the Green and White in scoring with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. She added four steals, two rebounds, and a pair of assists. Freshman Asia Kobylarczyk (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) followed with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting with two three-pointers. Kobylarczyk tied Bardic for the team lead with four thefts. Senior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) and freshman Caitlin Leyden (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) also finished in double figures, adding 13 and 11 points, respectively. White directed an offense that saw 11 players score en route to notching a game-best seven assists. 

Illinois Wesleyan converted 46.6 percent of its shots from the floor, going 34-for-73 from the field. The Titans were 8-for-25 from beyond the arc and 12-of-19 at the free throw line. IWU dished out 23 assists and collected 18 steals, while committing just 10 turnovers. Franciscan was held to 21-of-53 shooting (39.6 percent) overall. The Barons knocked down seven three-pointers on 25 attempts and went 7-for-14 at the stripe. Franciscan finished with 27 turnovers in the contest as IWU posted a 40-4 lead in points off miscues. The Green and White also finished with leads in bench scoring (39-23), fastbreak points (12-2), points in the paint (44-28), rebounds (37-36), and second-chance scoring (14-7).

The Titans lead 15-9 but the Barons came up with a five-point run to pull within one, 15-14, on a three-pointer with 3:04 on the clock in quarter one. A key offensive rebound by senior Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) set up an and-one from White. Reversing the ball, White gained possession on the opposite wing and split a pair of defenders en route to a pull-up in the paint. She completed the three-point play with a free throw to regain a four-point cushion 18-14. 

A swipe and score by freshman Rena Robinson (San Jose, Calif.-Archbishop Mitty) sparked a 10-2 Titan run. Bardic followed with a triple off an assist from sophomore Alyssa Epps (Berkeley, Ill.-Montini Catholic) and then converted a layup behind a Balli steal. Franciscan hit a layup to stop the run temporarily, but another swipe and score by Balli gave the Green and White a 27-18 advantage after one period.

Illinois Wesleyan broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Barons, 28-12 over the next 10 minutes. The Titans went 10-for-17 from the floor and used 12 straight points to move ahead, 39-18. Buckets by Kobylarczyk, Leyden, Bardic, White, senior Payton Jacob (St. Joseph, Ill.-St. Joseph Ogden), freshman Ashley Mahlum (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington), Epps, and Robinson propelled IWU to a 55-30 halftime lead.

The Titans never looked back in the second half, pushing their lead to as many as 36, to collect the neutral site victory. 

IWU is back in action tomorrow, Nov. 22, against 23rd-ranked Hope. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET at DeVos Fieldhouse.

 
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