FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

Jan. 18, 2012-- North Central College was unable to keep pace with the nation's 25th-ranked squad on Wednesday night, falling 87-53 to visiting Illinois Wesleyan University in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin women's basketball game inside Gregory Arena.

The nationally-ranked Titans (12-4, 5-0 CCIW) led wire-to-wire, enjoying a 44-31 lead at the halftime break. North Central (6-10, 0-5 CCIW) trailed by just three points with 12:47 remaining off a layup by Helen Muleya. IWU responded over the next four minutes, building a double digit advantage. The Titan lead swelled to 15 points with 2:42 remaining before taking the 13-point lead into the locker room at half.

Illinois Wesleyan maintained a double digit advantage the entire second half, sending the Cardinals their fifth defeat of the CCIW slate.

North Central held a 35-29 edge in rebounding but committed 30 turnovers to the Titans 14. The Cardinals finished the night shooting 38.8 percent (19-for-49) from the floor while IWU sank 51.7 percent (31-for-60) of its shots from the floor, including 50 percent (10-for-20) from three-point range.

Bobbi Johns paced the Cardinals, finishing with 10 points and three assists. Sophie Newson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while chipping in six points while Callie Rezin came off the bench and chipped in eight points.

Olivia Lett, the CCIW's leading scorer, paced the Titans with 26 points and eight rebounds. Melissa Gardner added 18 points while reserve Michelle Bilek added 14.

The Cardinals hit the road on Saturday, making the trek downstate to Decatur to face Millikin University with tip-off slated for 5 p.m.