Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Asia Kobylarczyk loading a three-pointer
Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative
53
Wis.-La Crosse UWL 5-2,0-0 WIAC
64
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3-2,0-0 CCIW
Wis.-La Crosse UWL
5-2,0-0 WIAC
53
Final
64
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
3-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wis.-La Crosse UWL 17 9 16 11 53
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 9 24 21 10 64

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Knocks Off No. 16 UW-La Crosse, Advances to Midwest Challenge Title Game

Titans to face No. 19 WashU tomorrow, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The 17th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team picked up a top-25 win Saturday, Nov. 29, opening the Midwest Challenge with a 64-53 triumph over No. 16 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse inside the Shirk Center. IWU (3-2) advances to tomorrow's Midwest Challenge Championship game against No. 15 WashU, while UWL (5-2) will face DePauw University in the consolation final.

The two top-25 teams went punch-for-punch as each team ripped off 12-point runs. Freshman Caitlin Leyden (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) hauled in an offensive rebound and quickly sent the ball to senior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) who found classmate Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) for a bucket. The Eagles outscored the Titans, 17-7, over the remainder of the period to stake a 17-9 lead after 10 minutes.

Flipping the script, the second period saw UW-La Crosse score first. With the shot clock winding down, Bardic carved up the UWL defense and hit a layup. Senior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) followed with a triple and Bardic came up with an and-one off a steal to pull the Titans within two, 19-17. White knocked down a jumper near the elbow and Bardic added another bucket to give IWU a 21-19 advantage.

Leyden swiped the ball and found Balli on the opposite side of the court. With the Eagles defense collapsing on her, Balli kicked out to freshman Asia Kobylarczyk (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) for a trail three-ball. The triple lifted IWU ahead, 24-22, into an Eagles timeout. 

White drove across the court and delivered a pass to Bardic for a three-pointer to up the lead to five, 27-22. The Green and White extended its advantage to seven, 33-26, at the break. 

UW-La Crosse pulled within one early in the second half, but Kobylarczyk converted an and-one that had IWU up four at the under-five media timeout.

Balli swiped a pass and White found Kobylarczyk for a three-ball before the rookie hit another layup to stretch the lead to nine, 49-40, and force another UWL timeout.

Leading 54-42 into the final quarter, Illinois Wesleyan's lead was trimmed to four, 54-50, as the home team was stymied by a five-minute scoring drought. Bardic worked her way through the lane for a layup for IWU's first points of the fourth quarter at the 5:05 mark. 

Keeping the momentum with the Green and White, Bardic threw a half-court pass up for White in transition to reclaim an eight-point cushion, 58-50, into a UWL timeout.

The Titans never looked back from that point on, closing out a 64-53 win at the free throw line.

Bardic finished with a game-high 22 points and six assists to go along with two rebounds, two steals, and a block. Kobylarczyk recorded a career-best 18, and led the team with three triples, as well as three boards, three steals, and a pair of assists. White rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12, and led the team with five steals. Leyden posted a team-high 12 rebounds, five coming on the offensive end, to go along with six points and four swipes. 

Illinois Wesleyan finished the contest shooting 40 percent, going 26-of-65, and was 5-of-21 from deep. The Titans sank all seven free throw attempts. UW-La Crosse was limited to a 21-of-57 showing (36.8 percent), and finished 7-of-25 from three-point range (28 percent), while converting 4-of-8 free throws. The Green and White capitalized on 31 points off of turnovers, while limiting the Eagles to eight. IWU also held the edge in points in the paint (34-26), and fast break scores (17-2), while UWL notched the advantage in bench points (21-4) and second-chance scoring (5-2).

Illinois Wesleyan advances to the Midwest Challenge Championship game tomorrow, Nov. 30, against No. 15 WashU. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m., while DePauw and No. 16 UW-La Crosse will square off in the consolation finale at 2 p.m.

 
Print Friendly Version