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WHEATON, IL - NCAA Basketball - #16 Illinois Wesleyan at Wheaton at King Arena on January 17, 2026. #16 Illinois Wesleyan defeated Wheaton 77-71 to improve to 12-4 overall and 7-0 in conference play. Wheaton dropped to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in conference play. (Photo by Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative)
Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative
74
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 13-4,8-0 CCIW
52
Carthage CARTH 8-9,2-6 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
13-4,8-0 CCIW
74
Final
52
Carthage CARTH
8-9,2-6 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 19 20 18 17 74
Carthage CARTH 14 13 12 13 52

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Rolls to Win at Carthage

Three Titans hit double figures

KENOSHA, Wis. - Three double-digit scorers led the 13th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team to a 74-52 win at Carthage College at Tarble Arena Wednesday night, Jan. 21. The Titans improve to 13-4 overall with the win and complete the first half of College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play 8-0. The Firebirds fall to 8-9, 2-6 in the CCIW.

Senior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with two three-pointers. She added seven boards, three steals, and an assist. Redshirt freshman Leah Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) went for a career-high 19 points with nine rebounds, highlighted by five offensive boards. Freshman Caitlin Leyden (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) totaled 15 points and tied for the team-high with nine caroms.

Illinois Wesleyan shot 44.3 percent on the night, going 27-for-61 from the field and 5-of-15 behind the arc. IWU withheld free cheese curds from a crowd begging for them with a 15-for-20 showing at the free throw line as no Titan missed back-to-back freebies. The Titans controlled the boards, 44-30, and posted 10 steals on the night. Carthage shot 36.7 percent from the floor and hit 6-of-25 three-pointers. CC made just four trips to the charity stripe, making two. 

Carthage won the tip and quickly grabbed a 4-2 lead, but Illinois Wesleyan used its craftiness to carve up the paint for an 8-2 run. Leyden drained a bucket to give IWU its first lead of the day, 8-6, and Bardic followed with a pull-up jumper at the free throw line to carry a 10-6 advantage into the first media.

The Firebirds reclaimed the lead on a triple but Bardic cashed in on a steal and Palmer hit free throws to level the game at 14 all. The freebies by the mid-year transfer sparked a 7-0 run to end the period. Hitting her defender with a head fake, Palmer took one dribble and put up a layup. Feeding off freshman Kaidyn King's (North Aurora, Ill.-Batavia) tight defense in the full court, IWU got right back to it with a wing triple out of the hand of Bardic.

Leading 19-14 after 10 minutes, Palmer converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Bardic flipped the ball to her the next time down the floor and Palmer was true from the wing for three. 

Carthage was gifted a bucket with the shot clock expiring as an off-the-mark shot banked in to cut IWU's lead down to five. 

The Green and White dictated the pace after that, turning it into a track meet alongside a run to force a timeout with 5:33 to go in the half as the visitors led, 31-20.

Illinois Wesleyan owned a 39-27 advantage at the break as the Titans converted 53.1 percent of their shot attempts. 

The Firebirds fought back within 10, but IWU rattled off 11 consecutive points to expand its cushion, 55-36.

After a Carthage three-ball with 43 seconds to go in the quarter, Palmer pulled a rebound and drew a foul on the putback. She swished both free throws to push the Titans ahead, 57-39, into the final period.

The Green and White stretched its lead to as many as 27 in the fourth quarter, as buckets by senior Martha Lipic (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) and sophomore Luigi Lam (Kowloon, Hong Kong-Wa Ying College) helped guide IWU to the 74-52 victory.

Illinois Wesleyan makes a return trip to its northern neighbor Saturday, Jan. 24, for a clash with Carroll University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside Van Male Fieldhouse and will precede the IWU men's basketball game against the Pios.
 

 
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