BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The final week of the regular season kicks off with a trip to Gregory Arena this Wednesday, Feb. 19, as the fourth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team takes on North Central College. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the week with a 22-1 overall record, including a 13-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin standing. The Titans clinched the No. 1 seed and hosting right's for the CCIW Tournament with an 83-52 win over Millikin University, Feb. 15. The victory secured IWU at least a share of the CCIW Regular Season Championship. North Central, which has won three straight, will return to action for the first time in more than a week. The Cardinals are 10-13 overall and find themselves in a battle for conference tournament seeding at 6-8 in league play. NCC most recently knocked off Carroll University, 75-71, in Waukesha, Feb. 11.
    Matt Sosler will bring you the call on the radio, while live stats and a live stream will also be provided by North Central. Links can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
WANT IT TO THEMSELVES: With the No. 1 seed and hosting right's for next week's CCIW Tournament locked up, Illinois Wesleyan will look to claim the CCIW Regular Season Championship outright with a win at North Central on Wednesday. The Titans, who have won their 11th regular season title, will look to claim it outright for the first time since 2018.
WITH THE TOWN OF AMBOY ON HAND: Illinois Wesleyan was led in scoring by Mallory Powers on Senior Day, Feb. 15, as the senior scored a game-high 18 against Millikin. Powers' team-leading scoring effort came on 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range with much of her hometown of Amboy in the stands. Powers' six three-balls tied a career-high and matched the single-game season-high by a Titan this season. The versatile guard added five rebounds and seven assists to her stat line for the game. Overall, her six three-pointers made are tied for 12th-most in program single-game history.
CLASHES WITH THE CARDINALS: Wednesday night's CCIW contest between the Titans and Cardinals will serve as the 87th chapter in a history that dates back 40 years. Despite North Central winning the first seven showdowns, including an 81-76 win in the initial meeting in 1979, Illinois Wesleyan leads the all-time series 56-30. Additionally, IWU is 44-11 against NCC under the direction of Mia Smith and is winners of 14 of the last 16 meetings.
    The Titans held off a pesky Cardinal squad, 80-75, back in Bloomington, Jan. 11. Lauren Huber topped the Titans with 23 points, while Kate Palmer notched a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.
CEMENTING HER LEGACY: Lauren Huber continues to climb the IWU career record lists, establishing herself as one of the program's all-time greats. She is the only player in program history with 1500+ points and 800+ rebounds during their IWU career, as is one of just three to post 1200+ points, 600+ rebounds, and 200+ assists joining Kristen Schroff (1415p-726r-328a) and Rebekah Ehresman (1236p-604r-376a).
    Heading into Wednesday's showdown with North Central, Huber is 19 points from tying the program's all-time scoring record. Traci Butler currently holds the mark with 1632 points over 102 games from 1992 to 1996, while Huber's career total sits at 1613 through 103 games.
    Additionally, Huber is 72 rebounds away from tying the school record held by Elaine Hill (901). She currently ranks third all-time with 829 career boards, trailing Hill and Christina Solari (884).
COMMA CLUB CLIMBER: 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 18th on the program's all-time scoring list (1118 points), trailing Gwynne Roberts 17th-ranked point total of 1163.
    Senior Mallory Powers is approaching 1000-point membership, sitting 52 points out of the club. The Amboy, Ill. native is 29th on the program's all-time scoring list with 948 career points.
POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan held steady inside the top-five in both the D3hoops.com and WBCA Top-25 polls as of Feb. 18. IWU ranks fourth in the D3hoops.com and fifth in the WBCA poll.
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 236 as of Feb. 12 and ranks second-most all-time. Rebekah Ehresman holds the record with 296 accrued during her career from 2014 to 2018, while Sydney Shanks is third with 233. Hope Schulte (223) and Christina Solari (216) are the only other two Titans to surpass 200 steals in their careers.
    The Downers Grove, Ill. native, who set the program's single-season steals record a season ago, is 28th across Division III with 3.09 thefts per game, while her 71 steals are 25th-most.
FEAR THE SECOND TEN LIVES ON: Illinois Wesleyan has commonly used the second quarter to distance itself from opponents. Through 23 games this year, IWU has outscored opponents 462-298, a difference of 164 points. The Titans have lost the quarter just twice over 23 games - 26-12, at Carroll, Dec. 7 and 24-9, at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27. IWU and Carthage went point-for-point, Feb. 8, with the quarter finishing even, 15-15.
THE 54TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, in its 54th year of women's basketball, has compiled a 752-507 overall record. IWU's .595 all-time win percentage includes a 360-204 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
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 519-208. 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.
EXPERIENCE PAYING DIVIDENDS: Through 23 games, Illinois Wesleyan has shown immense poise by way of ball security. The Titans have dished out 367 assists to 335 turnovers, good for a 1.10 assist-to-turnover ratio. IWU's mark is ranked 29th nationally, while its 14.6 turnovers per game are slotted 67th-best and its 16.0 assists per game are 46th across Division III.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan wraps up the regular season at Augustana College this Saturday, Feb. 22. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside the Carver P.E. Center.
