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Leah Palmer bucket
AJE Photography 2025
55
Carthage CARTH 15-12,8-8 CCIW
64
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21-5,15-1 CCIW
Carthage CARTH
15-12,8-8 CCIW
55
Final
64
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
21-5,15-1 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Carthage CARTH 9 16 22 8 55
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 13 12 15 24 64

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Digs Deep for CCIW Semifinal Win Over Carthage

Titans advance to Saturday’s CCIW Tournament Championship game

WAUKESHA, Wis. - A strong fourth quarter propelled the No. 14 Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team past fourth-seeded Carthage College Friday night, Feb. 27, in the semifinal round of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament at Carroll University. With a 64-55 victory, the Titans jump to 21-5 on the year and advance to their third straight CCIW Tournament Championship.

Redshirt freshman Leah Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) led the Green and White with a near double-double off the bench. The Geneva, Ill. native went for a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, accompanied by a team-best eight rebounds. She also added three assists, a block, and a steal. Seniors Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park), Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montini Catholic), and Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) also finished in double figures. Balli totaled 15 points and tied Palmer with eight rebounds. White notched 11 points alongside four boards, four assists, and a team-high five steals. Bardic contributed 10 points with three swipes, two assists, and a trio of rebounds.

IWU shot 22-for-61 from the field (36.1 percent), while going 3-of-15 (20 percent) from distance. The Titans converted on 17-of-23 free throw tries. Carthage did not fare much better, connecting on 22-of-59 field goal attempts (37.3 percent). However, seven triples on 23 tries (30.4 percent) kept the Firebirds in the game. The Firebirds made just five trips to the stripe, knocking down four.

Illinois Wesleyan collected leads in fastbreak scoring (24-6), points in the paint (32-30), and points off turnovers (15-14). The Green and White used a 46-34 lead on the glass to pave the way for a 10-8 edge in second-chance scoring. Carthage held the upperhand in bench scoring, 22-17.

Tenacious defense kept the Firebirds scoreless for more than four minutes in the first quarter as Balli helped build up a seven-point lead, 11-4. Balli scored seven of IWU's first 11 points, but the Firebirds used back-to-back buckets to pull back within three, 12-9. With Carthage looking to tie the game as time wound down on the opening quarter, Bardic picked the pocket of the Firebirds and drove down the court before being fouled on a layup attempt. A freebie from Bardic pushed the Titans ahead, 13-9, into the second period.

Illinois Wesleyan bolstered its lead to double-digits behind an and-one from Bardic, a three-pointer by White, and a pair of Palmer free throws. The eight-point run forced a timeout with 6:30 on the clock. 

The timeout proved fruitful for the Firebirds as they would storm back with a 12-0 run of their own with a pair of three pointers and a fast break layup to take a two-point advantage. Trading buckets late in the second quarter, a White layup made it 25-23 with a minute left, but Carthage used a buzzer beater layup from Grace Cord to knot up the score heading into half. 

Out of half, the Titans fell behind by as many as seven with four minutes remaining. Carthage grew its third quarter lead to nine, but a Bardic layin with two seconds left provided momentum for IWU heading into the fourth quarter.

On its way to a comeback, Illinois Wesleyan opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run backed by an Asia Kobylarczyk (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) jumper to snag the lead. Palmer provided the spark late for the Titans, as she went on a mini 5-0 run midway through the final quarter. White coupled Palmer's performance with a layup to tie things at 55 with under five minutes remaining. After a two minute scoring drought from both teams, the aggressive Green and White would make four straight free throws with a steal from White capping off the Firebirds' hopes.

The Titans will look to win the CCIW Tournament Championship for the second time in three years, tomorrow night, Feb. 28 as they face the winner of Carroll-Wheaton. Tip time from Van Male Fieldhouse is 7 p.m.
 
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