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Wheaton, IL - January 04 - NCAA Basketball - #3 Illinois Wesleyan at Wheaton (Photo by Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative)
Kodiak Creative
64
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 19-0,10-0 CCIW
61
Elmhurst ELM 12-7,4-7 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
19-0,10-0 CCIW
64
Final
61
Elmhurst ELM
12-7,4-7 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 14 20 18 12 64
Elmhurst ELM 15 14 15 17 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Escapes with Win at Elmhurst

Bardic goes for game-high 26 points

ELMHURST, Ill. - The second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team escaped R.A. Faganel Hall with a 64-61 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win over Elmhurst University Saturday afternoon, Feb. 1. The Titans (19-0, 10-0 CCIW) avoided the Bluejays' (12-7, 4-7 CCIW) upset bid to continue its best start to the season since 2008-09.

Junior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) dropped a season-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a career-high six three-pointers. Senior Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) followed with a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double, while fellow senior Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) finished with nine points, nine rebounds, a team-best five assists, and a team-leading three steals.

Illinois Wesleyan finished 24-for-68 from the field (35 percent), just off the pace of the Bluejays' 37 percent clip (23-for-62). The Titans, led by Bardic, held the upperhand from distance though, as IWU hit seven three-pointers to just one by EU. Illinois Wesleyan converted 9-of-16 free throw tries with Elmhurst hitting 14-of-20 attempts.

The Green and White won the rebounding battle, 46-41, but uncharacteristically lost the turnover tally, 18-15. IWU finished with a 15-11 edge in second-chance scoring, while EU held leads in points in the paint (42-30) and fastbreak scoring (14-11). 

Elmhurst had control in the opening frame, taking a 7-6 edge into the game's first media timeout. The Bluejays led by three before a swipe and score from Powers pulled the Titans within one, 7-6, at the 4:10 mark. 

EU extended its lead to as many as five, but back-to-back three-pointers by Bardic and Powers made it a one-point game, 15-14, into the second 10.

Bardic carried the Green and White in the second quarter, scoring 13 of her 26 points behind 5-of-5 shooting and a trio of treys. Defensive slips allowed the Bluejays to hang around despite Bardic's outburst as IWU led by one, 24-23, with 4:40 left in the half.

Huber's and-one on an offensive putback got the Titans back on track. Bardic closed out the first-half scoring with a triple, her fourth of the day, as Illinois Wesleyan carried a 34-29 lead into the break.

The Green and White broke the game open out of halftime, driving ahead by as many as 13 (46-33) but saw a tight game down the stretch.

A four-point run by Huber, aided by Elmhurst miscues, put the Titans in front, 60-51, with 5:15 to play but the game was far from over. The Bluejays responded with a six-point spurt over two minutes to pull within three, 60-57. Bardic stalled the run with a layup off the backdoor assist from senior Caite Knutson (Maryville, Ill.-Collinsville), but EU hit free throws to stay within a possession.

Huber hauled in the rebound on her own miss and battled through plenty of contact before hitting a putback to stretch the lead to five, 64-59, with 1:15 to go. 

Elmhurst once again found the answer though, cutting it to a one-possession game, 64-61, on a layup with just over a minute to play.

The Bluejays got one more crack at a game-tying bucket as EU pulled in a missed IWU free throw with 24 seconds on the clock. Elmhurst put up a three-point attempt but Bardic blocked it and Powers hauled in the rebound to all but seal the win.

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.




 
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