The Millikin women's basketball team won the 2021 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Women's Basketball Tournament Championship defeating Illinois Wesleyan 72-59 on March 9 at the Griswold Center in Decatur, Illinois. It was the first CCIW Tournament Championship for Millikin since 2005.
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The game was a back-and-forth contest for the first three quarter with nine lead changes and eight ties. The game was tied 15-15 after the first quarter and Illinois Wesleyan led 29-26 at halftime. The Big Blue trailed much of the third quarter, but rallied in the final two minutes and took the lead for good with 2:05 left in the third on a basket from Jordan Hildebrand. Elyce Knudsen would push the lead to three one minute later before Illinois Wesleyan's Riley Brovelli cut the lead to 44-43 with 44 seconds left in the quarter, Knudsen would hit another basket in the final seconds of the quarter and it was 46-43 Millikin at the end of three quarters.
Millikin pushed the lead to six points on four occasions in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Millikin lead 57-51 with 6:12 remaining in the game. The Titans would make one final run and a 3-pointer by Samantha Munroe would make it 57-56 Millikin with five minutes to play.
The Big Blue went on a 13-3 run to close out the game. Knudsen hit a layup to make it 59-56 followed by a 3-pointer by Miranda Fox to get the run started.
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The best night of Elyce Knudsen's freshman year came in the CCIW title game, as she scored 31. Millikin athletics file photo by Kevin Krows |
Millikin shot 41 percent (28-69) from the field and made only three of 12 from 3-point range. The Big Blue shot 9-18 (50 percent) from the field in the fourth quarter. Illinois Wesleyan shot 36 percent (24-66) from the field and went 6-for-20 from 3-point range.
The Big Blue's top scorer was Knudsen with a career high 31 points with three steals. Knudsen tied the CCIW Tournament record for most made field goals in a game with 13. Hildebrand finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Fox finished with seven points and a team high 10 rebounds.
Kendall Sosa led the Titans with 20 points followed by Munroe with 13 and Anna Lowis with 10. Brovelli had a game high 12 rebounds.
Millikin ends the season with a record of 11-3 while the Titans fall to 6-4.