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2026 CCIW Tournament Championship Women's Basketball
74
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 22-5,15-1 CCIW
70
Carroll (WI) CAR 22-5,15-1 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
22-5,15-1 CCIW
74
Final
70
Carroll (WI) CAR
22-5,15-1 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 22 12 26 8 6 74
Carroll (WI) CAR 18 12 21 17 2 70

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women’s Hoops Outlasts Carroll in OT for CCIW Tournament Championship

Titans win program’s 12th tournament title

WAUKESHA, Wis. - The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship game lived up to its billing Saturday night, Feb. 28, in a top-25 matchup at Van Male Fieldhouse. No. 1 seed Carroll University battled back to take the second-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team to overtime, but the Titans closed the extra period with six unanswered points to take the title, 74-70. 

A layup by senior Ava Bardic (Lincolnshire, Ill.-Stevenson) and another by senior Sawyer White (Downers Grove, Ill.-Montin Catholic) sandwiched a Carroll turnover and pushed the Titans ahead by their largest lead of the night, 51-40, with 4:04 to go in the third quarter. 

The Pios pulled back within six on a three-pointer, but redshirt freshman Leah Palmer (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) and Bardic closed the period with buckets. 

Leading by nine into the final quarter, the Green and White offense slowed. IWU went just 1-for-7 from the floor over the first five minutes, while Carroll hit 4-of-9 shots to cut the cushion down to two, 62-60, with 4:54 to go. 

A timeout by head coach Mia Smith got the Titans back on track as freshman Asia Kobylarczyk (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) turned up the pressure on defense. The rookie picked off the Pios and was rewarded with a bucket on the other end off a Bardic assist. 

After a swipe and score by CU, senior Sara Balli (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) carved up the lane for a layup to once again make it a two-possession game, 66-62, with 38 ticks left in regulation. 

More free throws for the home team cut the lead to two, but White went 1-of-2 from the line to reclaim a three-point edge, 67-64. Missed freebies later opened the door for Carroll's comeback, as Julia Lokker and Anna Nielsen made buckets to force overtime, 68-68. 

Momentum remained with the Pios in the extra period as IWU turned it over three times in the first two minutes, including a steal that CU cashed in for a 70-68 lead. 

Bardic clapped back with a triple on White's assist to give Illinois Wesleyan a one-point advantage with 2:45 on the clock.

With the Pios' scoring complete, Palmer and sophomore Alyssa Epps (Berkeley, Ill.-Montini Catholic) knocked down free throws  to close out the victory. 

Bardic totaled a game-high 23 points with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a team-high two blocks. White stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, five boards, four assists, a game-high six steals, and a block. Kobylarczyk and Palmer also finished in double-figures, contributing 11 and 10 points, respectively. Palmer tacked on a team-high nine rebounds, while freshman Caitlin Leyden (Park Ridge, Ill.-Maine South) added seven caroms.

Illinois Wesleyan won the league's automatic bid to the CCIW Tournament with the win. The Titans will learn their NCAA Tournament path as part of the selection show Monday, March 2. The show will air on NCAA.com at 1:30 p.m.
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