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Leah Palmer vs. Wheaton
Jimmy Naprstek/Kodiak Creative
49
Ohio Wesleyan OWU 0-1,0-0 NCAC
50
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1-0,0-0 CCIW
Ohio Wesleyan OWU
0-1,0-0 NCAC
49
Final
50
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
1-0,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ohio Wesleyan OWU 7 15 9 18 49
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 13 16 11 10 50

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Holds Off OWU to Win Season Opener

Palmer goes for 26 points, 15 boards

HOLLAND, Mich. - Junior Leah Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) led the 20th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team to a 50-49 win over No. 24 Ohio Wesleyan University Friday, Nov. 6, in season-opening action at the Michele Schoon Tournament hosted by Hope College. 

Palmer put up a career-high 26 points on 8-of-19 shooting with a pair of three-pointers. She knocked down 8-of-10 free throws and pulled in a career-best 15 boards for her second career double-double. Junior Olivia Corson (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and freshman Bri Harms (Roanoke, Ill.-Roanoke Benson) added seven points apiece. In all, six Titans made their debuts.

It was a defensive battle from the jump as neither team shot better than 27 percent. The Titans converted 16-of-62 shot attempts (25.8 percent), going 4-for-31 from three-point range. IWU's bright spot came at the free throw line, where the Green and White knocked down 14-of-18 freebies. Ohio Wesleyan was limited to 22.2 percent shooting (16-of-72) and went 4-for-24 from beyond the arc. The Battling Bishops converted 13-of-18 free throw attempts. 

In a relatively balanced game, each team finished with 52 rebounds. Illinois Wesleyan committed 24 turnovers to OWU's 19. Palmer and junior Alyssa Epps (Berkeley, Ill.-Montini Catholic) notched three steals each.

Offense came slow on both sides as each team worked to find a rhythm. Palmer scored the game's first point on a free throw, but back-to-back buckets by the Battling Bishops gave OWU a 4-1 edge nearly three minutes in. Sophomore Asia Koblyarczyk (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine West) hit a jumper and Palmer tacked on free throws to catapult the Titans ahead, 5-4.

Ohio Wesleyan broke its three and a half minute scoring drought with a layup. The Battling Bishops tacked on a free throw to climb ahead, 7-5, with 2:29 on the clock.

Illinois Wesleyan closed the quarter with an 8-0 run, jumpstarted by a three-ball by Corson on a dish from Palmer. The juniors followed with a series of free throws, two from Corson and four from Palmer, to take a 13-7 lead into the second. 

The Green and White used a big run to take control by double digits in the next stanza. Harms found Palmer on an inbounds for a right-handed layup. Moments later, Palmer sunk a putback into a timeout. 

Leading 17-15, Palmer answered a OWU three-pointer with a trey of her own, draining a shot from the left wing. The run continued with a banked jumper from Palmer off a heady pass from freshman Emily Currey (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine West). Sophomore Rena Robinson (San Jose, Calif.-Archbishop Mitty) tracked down her own rebound and hit a three-pointer from the right wing to stretch lead to double-digits, 25-15. 

The Battling Bishops bounced back to pull within five late, but Harms sped by her defender and crossed over another en route to a layup. The bucket pushed IWU ahead, 29-22, at the break.

The Green and White raced ahead by as many as a dozen in the second half, but Ohio Wesleyan used a six-point spurt to trim the lead in half. Three free throws from Harms gave the Titans a 50-43 lead with 1:50 to go, but turnovers and fouls gave OWU an opening. The Battling Bishops scored six straight points, the last two coming at the free throw line, to make it a one-point game with 1:05 left on the clock.

Ohio Wesleyan had several looks at the go-ahead bucket, but rebounds by Harms and Palmer were enough to secure the win, 50-49.

Illinois Wesleyan advances to tomorrow's Michele Schoon Tournament Championship game to play the winner between No. 4 Hope and UW-Plattville. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET at DeVos Fieldhouse.

 
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