BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament kicks off this weekend with the first and second rounds Friday-Saturday, March 6-7. The 10th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team will travel to the site of their first roadtrip of the season, DeVos Fieldhouse, for regional action at Hope College. The Titans will take on Washington and Jefferson College at 6 p.m. ET, with Hope and Penn State Behrend set for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip.
    The Green and White heads into postseason play with a 22-5 standing on the heels of the program's 12th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship. IWU defeated fourth-seeded Carthage College in the semis before overcoming top-seeded Carroll University in overtime to win the title. Similarly, the other three teams heading to Holland, Mich. also won their league tournament. IWU's opponent, Washington & Jefferson holds a 22-6 record. The Presidents tied for the Presidents Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship, but like the Titans had to go on the road in the tournament. W&J rolled to double-digit wins in the quarters, semis, and championship, defeating No. 1 seed Saint Vincent College, 64-43, for the AQ. Hope wrapped up the Michigan Intercollege Athetlic Assocation's automatic bid to return to the postseason. The Flying Dutch are 24-3 this season. At 22-5, Penn State Behrend represents the Allegeheny Mountain Collegiate Conference following its tournament championship.
 All of the NCAA Tournament games will air on NCAA.com, while live stats will also be available. Links can be found on the women's basketball schedule page of iwusports.com.
MARCH MADNESS MODE: Illinois Wesleyan is making its 17th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Since first making the tournament in 1995, IWU has compiled a 23-16 record in the tourney. The Titans played in the third-place game in 2011 and won the Division III National Championship in 2012. IWU advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of last season's event.
IWU VS. THE FIELD: This year's 64-team field included eight teams IWU faced during the season. The Titans were 5-5 against the field during the regular season, with two wins over Carroll, along with victories against WashU, Bethel, and UW-La Crosse. All five of Illinois Wesleyan's losses have come to teams in the national tournament - Hope (overtime), Wisconsin Lutheran, UW-Whitewater, Chicago, and Carroll.
STRONG ON BOTH SIDES: Illinois Wesleyan was one of 23 schools across Division III to have both its men's and women's basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament this season. In fact, IWU's combined history ranks the Titans among the top in Division III. In research compiled by former WashU SID Chris Mitchell, the Titans enter the weekend with 82 combined wins - the fifth-most in Division III.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Illinois Wesleyan and Washington & Jefferson have met just one time previously, with the meeting coming as part of the Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament hosted by Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. The Titans used strong defense to overpower the Presidents, 84-70, Nov. 16, 2013. Colleen McMahon led IWU with 22 points, while Lexi Baltes (14p-9a) and Katy Seibring (13p-8r) accrued near double-doubles.
    Against the rest of the pod, IWU has never faced Penn State-Behrend and is 1-4 against Hope all-time. The Green and White's first win against the Flying Dutch came last season, Nov. 16, 2024 in Holland, Mich. IWU saw five players score in double figures in the win, as returners Ava Bardic and Sara Balli put up 13 and 12 points, respectively. Earlier this season, Hope spurned IWU in overtime, 76-73. Asia Kobylarczyk scored a team-high 17 points and Caitlin Leyden went for a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double while Sawyer White (15) and Ava Bardic (14) also finished in double figures.
WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE: The Titans are no strangers to DeVos Fieldhouse, the home of the Hope College Flying Dutch. In fact, Illinois Wesleyan won the 2012 Division III National Championship at DeVos with a 57-48 win over George Fox after a 67-53 triumph against St. Thomas in the national semifinal. Additionally, IWU has played in Hope's early season tournament in each of the past four years.
CCIW ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: For the seventh time in the past nine seasons, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin has multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. IWU is making its third straight appearance and 15th under head coach Mia Smith, while Carroll is in the tournament for the second time in three years.
  CCIW teams have won two NCAA Division III national titles in women's basketball including Millikin in 2005 and Illinois Wesleyan in 2012. North Central won a national title in 1983 before the conference began sponsoring women's athletics.
CHAMPS AGAIN!: With its win over Augustana, Feb. 21, Illinois Wesleyan claimed a share of the CCIW Regular Season Championship. Completing the league slate with a 15-1 record, the Titans tied Carroll for the title. It is the program's 12th league championship.
ALL-CCIW TRIO: The Titans saw three land on the All-CCIW squads as Ava Bardic and Sawyer White were unanimous First Team All-CCIW picks. Caitlin Leyden, who was voted the CCIW's Newcomer of the Year, reeled in a spot on the second team.
    Additionally, Mia Smith and her staff of Brian Ehresman, Kate Bullman, Sammi Matoush, and Chad Cusac were tabbed CCIW Co-Coaching Staff of the Year alongside Carroll.
TURNS OUT, IT WAS ALWAYS LEYDEN: Freshman Caitlin Leyden has put together a strong all-around rookie campaign for the Green and White. Leyden is averaging 9.3 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game through 25 contests. She has started in all but one game and is shooting 46.2 percent form the floor, while registering 61 steals, 43 assists, and 15 blocks.
    The only freshman named to an All-CCIW team, and one of just two underclassmen, Leyden was a lock for CCIW Newcomer of the Year. She is the first Titan to receive the honor, which the conference began dolling out in 2013.
GIVE & TAKE: Through 27 games, Sawyer White has thrived as a facilitator while also feasting on opposing ball handlers. White has dished out 120 assists on the year, a number that ranks 26th across Division III. On the other end of the floor, White has swiped a CCIW-best 99 steals. Her thefts are 11th-most nationally.
R-N-J BRINGS IN STEALS ALL DAY: Illinois Wesleyan's full-court run-and-jump press has rattled opponents this season, as IWU has compiled at +6.85 turnover margin through 27 games. The Titans' tenacious defensive effort has come on the back of a trio of swipers. Sawyer White leads the Green and White with 99 steals, good for a 3.67 average per game, while Ava Bardic is second with 68 (2.5 spg). Caitlin Leyden rounded out the top-three sweep with 61 thefts (2.3 spg).
    For the season, Illinois Wesleyan's turnover margin is 21st-best nationally. The Green and White sits 28th with 22.74 turnovers forced per game and is 26th with 13.3 steals per contest.
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. With 311 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 547.
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 a career-best 520 points this season. The Lincolnshire, Ill. native has made a career-best 186 field goals and is carrying a career-high 46.0 field goal percentage into the national tournament. Overall, Bardic's 520 points rank 16th-most in Division III this season, while her 19.3 average is 26th-best. As of March 3, Bardic's 1361 points as a Titan rank eighth in program history. She trails seventh-ranked Claire Sheehan by 17 points.
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 99 thefts, good for 11th-most in Division III this season as of March 3.
    In the CCIW, White sits 42 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 361 career thefts ranked seventh-most among active women's basketball players across Division I, II, and III. She has the third-most steals to her name of any current NCAA Division III student-athlete, trailing only Hunter's Alexa Charles & Scranton's Kaeli Romanowski.
THE 55TH YEAR OF IWU WOMEN'S HOOPS: Illinois Wesleyan is in its 55th year of women's basketball and has compiled a 781-513 overall record. IWU's .600 all-time win percentage includes a 379-205 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark.
POLLING PLACE: Illinois Wesleyan remains in the national polls midway through the season. The Titans are 10th in the D3hoops.com Top-25 and 15th in the WBCA poll.
  IWU is one of two College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams featured in both polls, as Carroll is 14th in the D3hoops rankings and tied for 17th in the WBCA poll.
