BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - A three-game string away from Bloomington begins Saturday, Jan. 17, as the 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team travels to King Arena for a game against Wheaton College. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and will serve as the front end of a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin doubleheader with the IWU men's basketball team.
    Illinois Wesleyan makes the trip to the suburbs sporting an 11-4 overall record. The Titans top the league standings at 6-0. IWU, which has won three straight, most recently trounced Millikin University, 76-48, in the Shirk Center, Jan. 14. Wheaton holds a 6-8 record and finds itself in the thick of the conference with a 2-3 CCIW mark. The Thunder took down The University of Olivet, 67-48, in a non-conference tilt, Jan. 14.
    Matt Sosler will call the action in an audio only broadcast with a live stream also available on the CCIW Network, while live stats will also be provided. Links can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

BARDIC BALLS OUT: Leading the way for the Titans in its 28-point win over Millikin, Jan. 14, senior Ava Bardic put up a career-high 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting with three three-pointers. Bardic added five assists, four rebounds, and three steals in the win.
    The Lincolnshire, Ill. native's 30-point performance is the second by a Titan this season as Sawyer White totaled 37 points against Carroll, Jan. 3. It is the first time since the 2021-22 campaign that multiple individuals have posted 30-point games. That season, Brooke Lansford erupted for 32 points against Carthage Feb. 5, 2022, just a few months after Lauren Huber's 31-point effort versus Rose-Hulman Nov. 27, 2021.

MOUNTAINS OF MISCUES: The Big Blue turned the ball over 30 times as the Titans' pesky defense overwhelmed Millikin, Jan. 14. It was IWU's most forced turnovers since the Green and White turned Edgewood over 30 times Nov. 23, 2024.

UPPING THE ANTY: Illinois Wesleyan has taken its play to another level through six league games, jolting out to a 6-0 start to CCIW play. The Titans are connecting on 43.2 percent of their shots (172-of-398) and have gone 42-for-131 from beyond the arc (32.1 percent) while averaging 78.0 points per game. IWU's offensive output has been far more productive with a nearly three percent increase in both overall field goal percentage and three-point scoring. Meanwhile, the Green and White is averaging seven more points per game. Illinois Wesleyan has scored 70+ points in every contest and has eclipsed 80 points twice.

AGAINST THE THUNDER: Saturday's CCIW showdown between Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton will be the 94th all-time meeting between the two conference foes. The Thunder hold a 56-37 edge in the all-time series, but the Titans have won nine of the past 10 tilts including six straight.
    In 2024-25, the Green and White squeaked out a 59-45 win on the Thunder's home court, Jan. 4, before running away with a 93-57 victory inside the Shirk Center three weeks later. Four Titans hit double figures in the second meeting, Jan. 25, with Ava Bardic pacing IWU with a game-high 19 points. Mallory Powers stuffed the box score with 17 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals, while Lauren Huber (12) and Caite Knutson (10) rounded out the group of scorers.

GIVE & TAKE: Through 15 games, Sawyer White has thrived as a facilitator while also feasting on opposing ball handlers. White has dished out 71 assists on the year, a number that ranks 14th across Division III. On the other end of the floor, White has swiped a CCIW-best 54 steals. Her thefts are 15th-most nationally.
White's exceptional all-around play puts her in limited company as one of four Division III women's basketball players nationally to rank in the top-20 in both assists and steals. She joins Brookyln's Brianna Johnson (steals -9th & assists 3rd), Penn-State Abington's Amina Reed (steals - 8th & assists - 5th), and Penn College's Breana Valentine (steals - 12th & assists - 11th).

NOBODY HAS WON MORE: In her 28-year career at the helm of Illinois Wesleyan women's hoops, Mia Smith has won more CCIW games than any women's basketball coach in league history. Smith notched the 296th CCIW win of her career with Illinois Wesleyan's 85-52 win over Carroll, Jan. 3, taking sole possession of the top spot in conference history.
    With 298 wins to 95 losses in conference contests, Smith sits ahead of Millikin's Lori Kerans (295) for the title of all-time winningest coach in CCIW history. Overall, Kerans holds the all-time record for wins with 556 in her 32-year career, as Smith lurks close behind with 536.

SHE TOOK IT: Senior Sawyer White snatched her 297th career steal six minutes into Illinois Wesleyan's game against Wisconsin Lutheran, Dec. 29, breaking the program's all-time steals record. White overtook the top spot on the all-time list as she surpassed Rebekah Ehresman, who accrued 296 during her outstanding career as a Titan from 2014-2018. This season, White has amassed 54 thefts, good for 15th-most in Division III this season as of Jan. 16.
    In the CCIW, White sits 99 steals behind Millikin's Jennifer Falbe, who had 404 takeaways in her career as a Big Blue from 1996-2000. In White's sophomore season, she set a single season steals record with 112, which ranks second all-time in a single season in league history.
    Moreover, White's 316 career thefts ranked eighth-most among active women's basketball players across Division I, II, and III. She has the second-most steals to her name of any current NCAA Division III student-athlete, trailing only Hunter's Alexa Charles.

POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan remains in the national polls midway through the season. The Titans are 16th in the D3hoops.com Top-25 and No. 18 in the WBCA poll.
    IWU is one of two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams featured in both polls, as  Carroll is 20th in the D3hoops rankings and tied 23rd in the WBCA poll.

THE 55TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan is in its 55th year of women's basketball and has compiled a 769-512 overall record. IWU's .600 all-time win percentage includes a 369-204 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.

ON THE HORIZON: Illinois Wesleyan's road stint continues with back-to-back trips to Wisconsin, Jan. 21-24. The Green and White travel to Tarble Arena for a Wednesday night bout with Carthage, Jan. 21. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Illinois Wesleyan then makes another trek north, Jan. 24, for a contest at Carroll.