ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - A strong second half propelled the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team to a 76-64 conference win over a stubborn Augustana squad on Wednesday (Feb. 1).
Illinois Wesleyan improved to 15-5 overall and 8-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin while the Vikings are 1-8 in league play and 9-11 overall.
The Titans and Vikings were separated by no more than seven points in the first half with Augustana's last lead coming at 23-21 with 8:36 left in the half.
IWU battled back and claimed a 36-34 edge at intermission and the Vikings tied the game at 36-36 with the first basket of the final period. But IWU went on a 14-5 run to stake out a 50-41 lead with 12:44 to go and the Vikings got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Seniors Brittany Hasselbring and Olivia Lett led IWU with 14 points each while junior Michelle Bilek had 12 and junior Melissa Gardner scored 10.
Illinois Wesleyan made 23 of 50 from the field (46 percent) and connected on 3 of 13 3-point field goal attempts (23 percent) while making 27 of 38 free throws (71 percent).
Augustana shot only 35 percent (18 of 51) from the field and made 2 of 13 (15 percent) from 3-point range. The Vikings made 26 of their 31 free throw attempts (84 percent).
Each team was guilty of 17 turnovers and IWU won the rebound battle 40-30 as Hasselbring corralled a game-high nine boards.
Augustana had three players score in double figures, led by Natalie Runge with 17. Gianna Pecora and Amy Hicks each scored 11.
The Titans host North Park at 5 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 4) in IWU's annual "Pink Zone" game with raffles, auctions, and other fundraising activities to garner money for the Community Cancer Center.