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Waukesha, WI - December 07 - NCAA Women's Basketball - #4 Illinois Wesleyan at Carroll (Photo by Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative)
Kodiak Creative
79
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 23-1,14-1 CCIW
55
North Central (IL) NCC 10-14,6-9 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
23-1,14-1 CCIW
79
Final
55
North Central (IL) NCC
10-14,6-9 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 30 14 29 6 79
North Central (IL) NCC 7 10 19 19 55

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Stymies North Central

Titans claim CCIW Regular Season Championship outright

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team rode an early lead to a 79-55 win at North Central College Wednesday night, Feb. 19, to win the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship outright for the first time since 2018. Five Titans scored in double figures as IWU ran to 23-1 overall and 14-1 in league play. The Cardinals fell to 10-14 on the year and 6-10 in league play.

Junior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) led the Titans with 15 points and a team-high seven steals. Juniors Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) and Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) added 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Bardic also dished out a team-best four assists. Senior Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard North) posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, while senior Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) finished with 10 points.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 47 percent for the game, going 31-for-66 from the field, and connected on 8-of-21 three-point tries. The Titans converted 9-of-10 free throws. North Central rebounded to shoot 42 percent from the field (21-of-50). The Cardinals went 4-for-16 from beyond the arc and 9-for-12 at the charity stripe.

The Green and White finished with a 39-28 lead in rebounding, coupled with a 12-7 edge in second-chance scoring. IWU also tallied leads in bench scoring (23-16), points in the paint (32-26), and fastbreak scoring (19-4). The Titans forced 28 Cardinal turnovers, leading to a 46-14 lead in points off miscues.

With an extra pass from senior Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy), Bardic drilled a three-pointer to lift the Titans to a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals came back to pull within one, 7-6, but free throws by Huber kicked off a 23-point run by the Green and White.

The 23-0 run, which spanned more than four and a half minutes, featured six points each from Huber and Bardic, five from White, four from Palmer, and two from Balli as IWU hit 10-of-12 shot attempts to grab control. 

A free throw with 53 seconds to go in the period by the Cardinals saw the Titans lead 30-7 into the second quarter.

North Central ended a nine-minute field goal drought with a bucket at the 7:33 mark, but Illinois Wesleyan came right back with a three-point play by Bardic. With the shot clock winding down, Bardic sank a pullup jumper and completed the play at the free throw line to stretch the lead to 30, 39-9, with 5:32 to go in the half.

Illinois Wesleyan carried a 44-17 advantage into the break, but saw North Central come out of the locker room strong as the Cardinals cut the Titan lead to 44-23. NCC's play forced an IWU timeout just 1:17 into the period. 

The Green and White pushed its lead to a game-high 37 going into the fourth quarter before leaving Naperville with a 79-55 victory.

Illinois Wesleyan finishes out the regular season at Augustana College this Saturday, Feb. 22. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Carver P.E. Center in Rock Island, Ill.
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