With today’s victory Wheaton, the CCIW Champions by winning the conference’s regular season schedule, earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament that is awarded to the CCIW Tournament Champion.
Thunder head coach Beth Baker said after the game, “I am excited for this team that they went out and got it done.” She added, “Once we concluded the non-conference schedule were 5-5. However, we re-grouped and I think getting humbled early in the season gave us some experience to get to this point to win a CCIW Championship and the conference tournament.”
Illinois Wesleyan led the Thunder 21-16 with 8:00 remaining in the first half, however, Wheaton rallied by closing out the half with a 16-4 scoring surge to give the hosts a 32-25 lead at halftime.
The Thunder scored the first six points of the second half to take a 38-25 lead with 17:30 left in regulation. Illinois Wesleyan battled back with an 11-2 run to cut Wheaton’s lead to 40-36 with 12:05 left in the game. Sarah Bull sank a pair of free throws with 4:25 left in the game to pull the Titans to within two as Wheaton held a narrow 49-47 lead. Wheaton senior Elizabeth Fox made a layup on the next play and drained a free throw because she was fouled on the basket to put the hosts up 52-47 with 4:10 left in the game. Bull hit two free throws with 2:45 left in the game to cut Wheaton’s lead to 52-49.
With 55-seconds left in regulation Illinois Wesleyan missed a basket that would have cut the Wheaton lead to one point and Thunder sophomore Kathleen Fidelia collected the rebound. Fidelia made two free throws with 34-seconds left in the game increase the hosts’ lead to 54-49. An Illinois Wesleyan shot was blocked by Thunder center Jill Trenz with 24-seconds left in the game and Fox grabbed the rebound to secure the victory.
Baker noted after the game, “I felt that if we effectively kept Illinois Wesleyan in the half court, offensively we could win and that is what happened.”
Fidelia led the Thunder with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. Fox scored 14 points, with five rebounds and three assists. Trenz had a balanced effort with 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists, six blocked shots and three steals.
Bull led the Titans and all scorers with 23 points, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, with three assists. Tasha Gaston-Bell scored eight points and Crystal Dye scored seven points, with seven rebounds.
Wheaton shot 41.1% (23-56) from the field and 30.8% (4-13) from three-point range. Illinois Wesleyan posted a 35.4% (17-48) field goal percentage, with 50% (7-14) from three-point range. Wheaton out-rebounded the Titans 39-32, with a 16-9 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton scored 20 points today off of Illinois Wesleyan’s 18 turnovers.
Illinois Wesleyan vs Wheaton College 2/24/07 2:00 PM at CCIW WBB Tournament Championship Game At CCIW WBB Tournament Championship Game WHEATON COLLEGE 54, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 49 ILLINOIS WESLEYAN (22-5) Bull, Sarah 7-13 5-5 23; Gaston-Bell, Tasha 3-7 0-0 8; Dye, Crystal 3-10 0-0 7; Sheehan, Claire 2-8 2-4 6; Rogers, Thea 1-4 1-2 3; Caplice, Colleen 1-5 0-0 2; Gravlin, Kerri 0-0 0-0 0; Sanchez, Elyse 0-0 0-0 0; Kiverts, Becky 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 8-11 49. WHEATON COLLEGE (19-7) Fidelia, Kathleen 7-13 2-6 18; Fox, Elizabeth 6-11 1-1 14; Trenz, Jill 5-8 1-4 11; Cooper, Brittany 2-10 0-1 4; Kvam, Lynnea 1-7 0-2 3; Edgecombe, Whitney 1-2 0-0 2; Carwell, Emily 1-3 0-0 2; Jones, Sarah 0-1 0-0 0; Heddell, Katie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 4-14 54. Illinois Wesleyan............. 25 24 - 49 Wheaton College............... 32 22 - 54 3-point goals-Illinois Wesleyan 7-14 (Bull, Sarah 4-5; Gaston-Bell, Tasha 2-4; Dye, Crystal 1-1; Sheehan, Claire 0-4), Wheaton College 4-13 (Fidelia, Kathleen 2-4; Kvam, Lynnea 1-5; Fox, Elizabeth 1-2; Carwell, Emily 0-1; Heddell, Katie 0-1). Fouled out--Illinois Wesleyan-Rogers, Thea, Wheaton College-None. Rebounds-Illinois Wesleyan 32 (Dye, Crystal 7), Wheaton College 39 (Trenz, Jill 9). Assists-Illinois Wesleyan 10 (Sheehan, Claire 4), Wheaton College 14 (Trenz, Jill 6). Total fouls-Illinois Wesleyan 16, Wheaton College 13.