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Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Feb. 27, 2009) - For the second time in less than a week, Illinois Wesleyan University showed North Central College why they are the nations' top team; defeating the Cardinals 76-58 in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's basketball tournament game at the Shirk Center.

Illinois Wesleyan scored the game's first two buckets before back-to-back three pointers by Nicole Kemme and Jessica Davis gave the visiting Cardinals the 6-4 advantage with 17:26 remaining. The lead proved to be short-lived as the Titans scored the next 11 points; part of an 18-2 run that saw North Central go over nine minutes without a field goal. IWU mushroomed its lead to 18-points with 3:57 to play before the Cardinals ended the half on a 9-3 run that saw North Central score the final five points of the half, trailing by just 12 at 34-22 at the intermission.

IWU's lead grew to a game-high 22 points with 15:08 remaining before the Cardinals managed to whittle the defecit to just 11 with under nine minutes to go. The Titans quickly put an end to any hope of a North Central comeback, scoring the next six points to bump their lead back up to 17 points. The lead would grow as large as 22-points with 32 seconds remaining before settling on the final 19-point margin.

Gia Navarra led the scoring effort for North Central, scoring 13 points, shooting four-for-six from the floor while also dishing out a team-high four assists. Davis came off the bench for the Cardinals, finishing in double figures for the 14th time this season, scoring 12 points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Mallory Heydorn paced the Titans with 13 points as four of the IWU starting five ended the night in double figures. Claire Sheehan amd Hope Schulte each had 12 points with Christina Solari chipping in 11. Solari and Colleen Caplice each had a game-high nine rebounds.

North Central shot just 29.2 percent (seven-for-24) from the field in the first half, ending the game hitting 37.3 percent (19-for-51). IWU hit 50 percent (13-for-26) of its shots in the first half and finished the night with a 49.1 percent (27-for-55) mark.

Friday's game was North Central's first appearance in the CCIW Tournament since the event began during the 2002-03 season.

The loss ends the Cardinals season, as they fall to 12-13 on the year while the Titans continue their quest towards a perfect season, advancing to the Championship game with a 26-0 record. The Titans will face Carthage College tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the conference title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.