BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The regular season slate comes to a close Saturday, Feb. 21, as the No. 15 Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team plays host to Augustana College. Tipoff of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash is set for 2 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the weekend as owners of a 19-5 overall record, highlighted by a 14-1 CCIW mark. The Titans are on the hunt for their seventh straight win following a 71-38 walloping of Wheaton College, Feb. 18. Augustana rolls into town fighting to extend its season. At 11-13 overall and 6-9 in league play, the Vikings are currently tied for the final spot in next week's CCIW Tournament. Augie snapped a four-game skid with an emphatic 81-56 drubbing of Elmhurst University, Feb. 18.
    Matt Sosler and Brittany Carper will call the action 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.
WITH A WIN...: Illinois Wesleyan will clinch at least a share of the CCIW Regular Season Championship for the third straight season as well as the program's 12th all-time. The win would also be No. 20 on the season for the Titans, giving Mia Smith's program its third straight 20-win season.
HAS TO BE LEYDEN: Freshman Caitlin Leyden has put together a strong all-around rookie campaign for the Green and White. Leyden is averaging 9.7 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game through 24 contests. She has started in all but one game and is shooting 46.4 percent form the floor, while registering 61 steals, 43 assists, and 15 blocks.
Leyden's been even better in conference play, putting up 10.3ppg and 7.3 rpg on a field goal percentage of 50.4. She is second the team in blocks (13) and steals (42) while ranking tied for third in assists (28) over 14 CCIW games.
Since the conference began awarding the CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year award in 2013, a Titan has never won it. Leyden looks to be the first.
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 92-game series, 57-35. The Vikings have only come out on top in seven of the last 44 meetings, with IWU winning the past six matchups.
  Illinois Wesleyan began conference play with a 74-70 win at Augustana, Dec. 3. The Titans used a big third quarter to erase a halftime deficit and escape with a victory. Ava Bardic led a crew of four double-digit scorers with a game-high 23 points. Sawyer White went for 19 points and a team-high six steals, while Asia Kobylarczyk (13) and Sara Balli (10) rounded out the group. Caitlin Leyden stuff the stat sheet with team-highs of eight rebounds and nine steals alongside five points.
R-N-J BRINGS IN STEALS ALL DAY: Illinois Wesleyan's full-court run-and-jump press has rattled opponents this season, specifically in conference play as IWU has been +132 in the turnover margin over 15 games. The Titans' tenacious defensive effort has come on the back of the top-three swipers in the CCIW. Sawyer White leads the league with 59 steals, good for a 3.9 average per game, while Caitlin Leyden sits second with 42 (2.8 spg). Ava Bardic rounds out the one-two-three sweep with 39 thefts (2.6 spg).
    For the season, Illinois Wesleyan has compiled a +7.08 turnover margin, good for 243rd-best nationally. The Green and White sits 28th with 23.17 turnovers forced per game and is 25th with 13.5 steals per contest.
PICUTRE BECOMING MORE CLEAR: Down to the final game of the regular season, Illinois Wesleyan's seeding in next week's conference tournament comes down to Saturday's outcomes around the league. Through 15 games, IWU is guaranteed a top-two seed and will receive a bye into the semis alongside Carroll. The Titans and Pios are currently tied atop the league standings at 14-1. Should the two finish the season with the same record, CU will earn the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for the CCIW Tournament by virtue of the tiebreaker (record in last eight games). Illinois Wesleyan would be the second-seed. However, if IWU tops Augie and Carthage edges Carroll, the Titans will be the No. 1 seed and host the tournament.
    After that, Carthage carries an 8-7 standing. NCC, which has a bye Saturday, completed the league scheduled even at 8-8, while Elmhurst stands at 7-8. All three have clinched a spot in the tournament, but their seeding will shake out Saturday. Augustana and Wheaton are vying for the final spot as the two sit tied for sixth at 6-9.
AVA BARDIC APPRECIATION POST: In her final season donning the Green and White, Ava Bardic has put together a sensational senior year. Bardic has scored 461 points this season, 10 points more than her 30-game total from 2024-25. The Lincolnshire, Ill. native has already made a career-best 166 field goals and is carrying a career-high 46.76 field goal percentage into the final week of the regular season. Bardic's numbers have been even better in conference play, where is converting 48.0 percent of her shot attempts and 34.5 percent of her three-point tries. She is averaging 20.5 points per game and has cleared 20 points in 10 of 14 CCIW games.
    Overall, Bardic's 461 points rank 19th-most in Division III this season, while her 19.2 average is 25th-best.
GIVE & TAKE: Through 24 games, Sawyer White has thrived as a facilitator while also feasting on opposing ball handlers. White has dished out 101 assists on the year, a number that ranks 38th across Division III. On the other end of the floor, White has swiped a CCIW-best 86 steals. Her thefts are 14th-most nationally.
POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan remains in the national polls midway through the season. The Titans are 15th in the D3hoops.com Top-25 and 17th in the WBCA poll.
  IWU is one of two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams featured in both polls, as Carroll is 13th in the D3hoops rankings and 20th in the WBCA poll.
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 310 wins to 96 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 544.
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 86 thefts, good for 14th-most in Division III this season as of Feb. 20.
In the CCIW, White sits 55 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 348 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.
THE 55TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan is in its 55th year of women's basketball and has compiled a 777-513 overall record. IWU's .600 all-time win percentage includes a 377-205 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
HOME COOKING: One of the greatest venues in NCAA Division III, the Shirk Center has been home to more than 750 Titan basketball games between the men and women. In its 30-year history, the women have won 283 of 369 of its home games, good for a .767 win percentage.
ON THE HORIZON: With the regular season complete, the Titans will turn their attention to the CCIW Tournament. IWU has secured a bye into the semis and will play at either 5 or 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, based on how seeding shakes out. If Illinois Wesleyan is the No. 2 seed it will play in the 5 p.m. semifinal at Carroll's Van Male Fieldhouse. On the flipside, if IWU prevails as the No. 1 seed the Titans will play in the 7 p.m. bout inside the Shirk Center Thursday, Feb. 26, as a result of the IWU men's basketball team hosting the conference tournament.
