Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Sawyer White bucket
© AshtinElder
54
WashU WU 5-2,0-0 UAA
59
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 4-2,0-0 CCIW
WashU WU
5-2,0-0 UAA
54
Final
59
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
4-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
WashU WU 10 12 20 12 54
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 12 8 19 20 59

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Titans Edge No. 15 WashU for Midwest Challenge Championship

Three Titans named to all-tournament team

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A strong fourth quarter lifted the 17th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team to its fourth straight Midwest Challenge Championship Sunday, Nov. 30, as the Titans (4-2) defeated WashU (5-2), 59-54, inside the Shirk Center. The Bears, who are ranked 15th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll and 19th in the D3hoops Top-25, dipped to 5-2 with the loss. 

A physical defensive battle from the opening tip, WashU held a 22-20 advantage at halftime. The Bears extended their lead in the third quarter, pushing ahead by as many as 11, but seniors Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park), Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson), and Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) came up with timely plays to make it a three-point game into the fourth.

White scored to begin the final period and then hit a floating jumper to claim a one-point cushion, 43-42, with 8:47 to play. White's second bucket came on the heels of WashU's Lexy Harris' fourth foul, as the D3hoops Preseason All-American was forced to the bench. 

The Bears' rode the hot hands of Sidney Rogers and Alyssa Hughes to reclaim a three-point lead, 46-43. With the Titans in dire need of a bucket, White put an end to WashU's run with a tough bucket through contact at the seven-minute mark.

Feeding off the energy of White, the Green and White's defense forced a 10-second violation, but the Bears battled back with a three-pointer from the wing to charge ahead, 49-45.

Timely buckets from freshman Caitlin Leyden (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) and Balli leveled the game at 49 and White followed with her own five-point run. After banking in a floater, White drilled a three-pointer to give Illinois Wesleyan a 54-49 edge into a WashU timeout. The Bears timeout, which extended to the media, came with 4:06 on the clock.

White picked the pocket of the Bears out of the reset and freshman Asia Kobylarczyk (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) finished off the play with a bucket to stretch the lead to seven, 56-49.

Leyden took a feed from White and knocked down an elbow jumper with 1:24 left to all but seal the victory. White tacked on a free throw with 18 ticks to go as IWU secured the 59-54 top-25 win.

White's championship performance earned her Midwest Challenge MVP honors, while Bardic and Kobylarczyk joined her on the all-tournament team.

Finishing with a season-high 22 points, White tied her career-best. She added seven rebounds, four steals, and two-assists. Balli poured in an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Bardic added 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers. 

Leyden, who was tasked with guarding the two-time All-America Lexy Harris, pulled in nine rebounds. She scored four points alongside a pair of assists and two steals. Leyden's hard-nosed defense held Harris to five points and seven rebounds on just five shot attempts. 

Stout defense saw both teams held below 45 percent shooting as IWU went 21-for-60 overall (35 percent) and 5-of-17 from three-point range (29.4 percent). WashU converted 42 percent of its attempts (21-of-50) and 4-for-21 from beyond the arc (19 percent). Illinois Wesleyan hit 12-of-16 free throws to the Bears' 8-of-12 showing at the line.

The Green and White turned WashU over 21 times, fueling a 19-16 edge in points off turnovers. The home team also led in rebounding (38-30), second-chance points (12-4), and fastbreak scoring (15-5). WashU finished with leads in steals (17-10), points in the paint (30-24), and bench scoring (4-0).

Illinois Wesleyan hits the road for the month of December beginning with a midweek trip to Rock Island, Ill. Wednesday, Dec. 3. The Titans will tangle with Augustana College to begin College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play with a 5 p.m. tipoff in the Carver Center.

 
Print Friendly Version