BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The fourth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team finishes out the regular season with a trip to the Carver PE Center for a bout with Augustana College. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and will serve as the front end of a doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team as part of Augie's Senior Day.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the final day of the regular season with a 23-1 overall record. The Titans rode a hot start past North Central College, 79-55, in Naperville, Ill. Wednesday night, Feb. 19, to up its league mark to 14-1. With the win, IWU claimed the CCIW Regular Season Championship outright. At 6-9 in conference play and 10-14 overall, Augustana finds itself in a battle for one of the final two spots in next week's league tournament. The Vikings most recently fell at Carroll University, 103-63, Feb. 15.
    Matt Sosler will bring you the call on the radio, while live stats and a live stream will also be provided by Augustana. Links can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.
GOT SAUCED: Junior Sawyer White led the Titans with a game-high 15 points at North Central, Feb. 19. The point guard hit 6-of-9 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, alongside seven steals and five rebounds. White also added an assist in the game, the 200th of her career. The Downers Grove, Ill. native's seven thefts tied a season-high and marked her eighth career game with seven-or-more steals.
A FULL HAND OF DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORERS: The Titans rolled past North Central, 79-55, on the road Wednesday, Feb. 19, behind five double-digit scorers. The junior trio of Sawyer White, Ava Bardic, and Sara Balli led the way. White tallied a team-high 15 points, while Bardic and Balli finished with 14 and 13, respectively. Lauren Huber (12) and Kate Palmer (10) rounded out the double-digit scorers.
    It marked the first time five Titans have accrued 10-or-more points in a game since six did so in an overtime win at Trinity (Texas), Dec. 27. In the 94-91 win over the Tigers, Bardic topped the team with 19 points. Huber and Balli added 18 points each, with Kate Palmer finishing with 13. Mallory Powers and Caite Knutson contributed 12 points each.
WE AIN'T SHARING NOTHING: With a win at North Central, Feb. 19, Illinois Wesleyan locked up its first outright CCIW Regular Season Championship since 2018. It is IWU's 11th regular season title overall.
    The Titans will host the semifinal and championship rounds of the CCIW Tournament as the No. 1 seed, Feb. 28-March 1. Illinois Wesleyan will play in the 7:30 p.m. game Friday night, Feb. 28, inside the Shirk Center, with second-seeded Carroll set to play in the 5 p.m. game. Quarterfinals will take place Tuesday, Feb. 25, with the CCIW Tournament Championship game scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, March 1.
AGAINST AUGIE ALL-TIME: Illinois Wesleyan and Augustana share a long history that dates back to the 1976-77 campaign. The Titans hold the upper hand in the 90-game series, 55-35. The Vikings have only come out on top in seven of the last 42 meetings, with IWU winning the past four matchups.
    Most recently, the Titans dismantled the Vikings, 75-38, in the Shirk Center, Jan. 8. The Green and White used a balanced effort to earn the victory as 12 different players scored in the game for IWU. Kate Palmer and Lauren Huber led the way with 11 points each.
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 Saturday's showdown with Augie, Huber is seven 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 1625 through 104 games.
Additionally, Huber is 61 rebounds away from tying the school record held by Elaine Hill (901). She currently ranks third all-time with 840 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 (1128 points), trailing Gwynne Roberts 17th-ranked point total of 1163.
Senior Mallory Powers is approaching 1000-point membership, sitting 47 points out of the club. The Amboy, Ill. native is 29th on the program's all-time scoring list with 953 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 244 as of Feb. 20 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 22nd across Division III with 3.25 thefts per game, while her 78 steals are 18th-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 476-308, a difference of 168 points. The Titans have lost the quarter just twice over 24 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.
EXPERIENCE PAYING DIVIDENDS: Through 24 games, Illinois Wesleyan has shown immense poise by way of ball security. The Titans have dished out 385 assists to 355 turnovers, good for a 1.09 assist-to-turnover ratio. IWU's mark is ranked 35th nationally, while its 14.8 turnovers per game are slotted 75th-best and its 16.1 assists per game are 43rd across Division III.
THE 54TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan, in its 54th year of women's basketball, has compiled a 753-507 overall record. IWU's .598 all-time win percentage includes a 361-204 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 520-208. 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.
ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan will enjoy a bye into the CCIW Tournament semifinal round as the league's top seed. The Titans will play in the 7:30 p.m. game inside the Shirk Center Friday, Feb. 28, with the other semi set for 5 p.m. The Green and White will learn its opponent following the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
