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Kate Palmer shooting
Kodiak Creative
62
Millikin MIL-U 9-18,7-9 CCIW
89
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25-1,15-1 CCIW
Millikin MIL-U
9-18,7-9 CCIW
62
Final
89
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
25-1,15-1 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Millikin MIL-U 11 20 18 13 62
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 20 25 24 20 89

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Beats Big Blue to Advance to CCIW Tournament Championship

Rematch of last year’s title game set for 7 p.m. tomorrow, March 1

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The third-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team made the most of 27 turnovers by Millikin University to bounce the Big Blue out of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Friday night, Feb. 28, inside the Shirk Center. With the 89-62 win, the Titans (25-1) advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship for the second straight season, while the Big Blue conclude their season 9-18.

Two 20-point performances led the Green and White with junior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) pacing the team with a game-high 23 points. Senior Kate Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) tallied 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Senior Lauren Huber (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard East) posted a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, while adding four assists and four steals. 

Senior Caite Knutson (Maryville, Ill.-Collinsville) contributed eight points off the bench alongside four assists. Junior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic) was credited with a team-high five assists to go along with three steals, four points, and three rebounds.

Illinois Wesleyan finished 34-for-72 from the field as a team, good for a 47.2 clip, and went 8-of-23 from beyond the arc. IWU knocked down 13-of-14 free throws. Millikin made 23-of-47 shots and hit 8-of-18 three-point tries. The Big Blue finished 8-for-13 at the charity stripe.

The Green and White outrebounded MU, 36-26, and won the turnover battle, 27-10. The Titans cashed in on the Big Blue's 27 miscues for a 36-4 lead off points off turnovers. IWU also held advantages in points in the paint (44-28) and fastbreak scoring (20-4). Millikin mustered a 22-18 edge in bench scoring.

Illinois Wesleyan opened the game with a stepback from Bardic and a floater from White to climb ahead, 4-0. Senior Mallory Powers (Amboy, Ill.-Amboy) and Palmer knocked down three-pointers as five Millikin turnovers saw IWU take a 12-5 lead into the game's first media timeout.

Momentum continued to build for the Green and White as Powers stepped in and drew a charge. IWU then capitalized on it with a three-ball from Bardic to take a 20-11 edge into the second quarter.

Illinois Wesleyan extended its lead to 15 as White found Palmer for a triple off a steal to propel the Titans ahead, 42-27. Bardic added a three-pointer from the top of the key and the Green and White went into the break leading, 45-31.

IWU stretched its lead to as many as 30 in the second half, as freshman Luigi Lam (Kowloon, Hong Kong-Wa Ying College) drilled a pair of three-pointers before dribbling out an 89-62 victory.

The Titans will square off against league foe Carroll University tomorrow, March 1, at 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center in a rematch of last year's CCIW Tournament Championship.



 


 
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