Kate Palmer scored 22 points in Illinois Wesleyan's impressive victory at UW-Whitewater on Tuesday night. File photo by Kodiak Creative

Illinois Wesleyan will head home for the short holiday break with a win over fellow national title contender UW-Whitewater while the Trinity (Conn.) men narrowly avoided an upsetting visit to an All-American alum.

• Tuesday scoreboard: Men | Women
• Team of the Week: Two Tigers, a Pioneer and a Mountaineer

• Around the Nation: Portal leads teams to Transfer Town
• More men’s headlines
• More women’s headlines

No. 6 Illinois Wesleyan prevailed at No. 4 UW-Whitewater, 84-78, in a thrilling game that had all the fixings of an NCAA Tournament feast.

The Titans controlled tempo in the first half and shot 53 percent with nine 3-pointers on their way to a 46-40 lead over the homestanding Warhawks. Illinois Wesleyan pushed its lead to 14 on Kate Palmer’s layup midway through the third quarter. UW-Whitewater responded with a 17-2 run capped by Bri McCurdy’s layup that put the Warhawks ahead, 57-56.

The teams traded leads the rest of the way until Mallory Powers’ driving layup gave Illinois Wesleyan a little breathing room at 80-75 with 64 seconds left. UW-Whitewater responded with another McCurdy three, but then had to foul to extend the game. All-American Kacie Carollo picked up her fifth foul and sent fellow All-American Lauren Huber to the line where she calmly made both shots. After a Warhawks miss, Palmer added to more free throws for the final score.

Illinois Wesleyan (4-0) shot 45 percent from three and was nearly perfect at the foul line (21 for 22). The Titans’ starting five combined for 78 points, led by Palmer who scored 22 on 7-for-12 shooting. Carollo scored 26 points with six assists and five rebounds before fouling out.

Playing away from home for the first time this season, No. 3 Scranton escaped Massachusetts with a 60-57 win at Tufts. The Lady Royals led 56-39 at the end of three quarters but did not score much the rest of the way. The Jumbos outscored Scranton 18-4 in the fourth period and had multiple chances to tie the game in the final two minutes but could not convert. Meghan Lamanna led four Lady Royals in double figures with 16 points. Scranton improves to 5-0 while Tufts slips to 3-2.

No. 19 Hope rebounded from Saturday’s overtime loss to Carroll with a 68-65 home win over UW-La Crosse. The Eagles closed the game on a 7-0 run but missed the game-tying three-point attempt with two seconds left. Anna Richards paced Hope (4-2) with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting with a pair of threes.

No.13 Carroll also went the other direction coming off its victory over Hope. Chicago used a well-balanced offensive attack to drop the Pioneers, 81-71. Five Maroons reached double figures and all five shot 50 percent or better from the field. Bella Alfaro led the way with 15 points with three 3-pointers and a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the free throw line for Chicago (5-1).

The newly ranked women’s teams had a mixed night less than 24 hours after entering the Top 25.

No. 14 Mass-Dartmouth fended off Roger Williams, 77-73, thanks to a big fourth quarter from Jane McCauley. She scored 11 points in the final frame including back-to-back three-pointers that gave the Corsairs a 74-68 lead. Teja Andrews tallied 23 points for Mass-Dartmouth (5-0) which is carrying its highest ranking in the history of our poll.

No. 23 Concordia-Moorhead had a rough return to the national rankings, as the Cobbers fell at UW-River Falls, 72-54. The Falcons drained 15 three-pointers and led 45-22 at the half. Zoey Buchan led the three-point parade with five made in seven attempts. UW-River Falls improved to 4-2 with all six games played against MIAC opponents.

No. 25 Messiah marked its first appearance in the poll by rolling over Dickinson, 52-36. The Falcons held the Red Devils to 3-for-25 shooting in the first half and led 30-9 at the break. Dickinson finished the game shooting 28 percent with four assists against 20 turnovers. Reese Harden led Messiah (6-0) with 13 points and five assists.

Washington and Jefferson stifled Chatham, 68-58, in the first of two regular season meetings between the top two teams in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. W&J held the Cougars to one field goal in the fourth quarter and 30 percent shooting overall. Stellanie Loutsion scored 24 points in just 21 minutes for the Presidents (5-1 3-0 PAC) who were picked behind Chatham in the preseason poll.

Rochester has had a lot of success in women’s basketball, including three national semifinal appearances, but it had never had a triple-double before Tuesday night. Abby Gress became the first Yellowjacket to achieve that feat with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in an 86-56 rout of William Smith.

On the men’s side, No. 5 Trinity (Conn.) paid a visit to Bantam alum and Western New England head coach Colin Tabb and nearly came home with a loss before staving off his Golden Bears, 60-57.

Brian Geitner’s jumper pulled Western New England within three with 1:06 to play and the Golden Bears had two more chances to tie but came up empty. Drew Lazarre posted a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) for Trinity (5-0) while Western New England had more field goals outside the three point line (10) than inside it (seven).

No. 8 Tufts rode a big night from Joshua Bernstein to victory over MIT, 80-68. The Jumbos center flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks. Tufts will return from the short holiday break with a home game against No. 20 WPI, which took care of Fitchburg State.

No. 6 UW-Platteville outscored Augustana 51-9 from three and the Pioneers dealt the Vikings their first loss of the season, 77-50. Ben Probst hit eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points for UW-Platteville (4-1) which used 19 players.

No. 18 TCNJ celebrated its rise into the national rankings by blasting William Paterson, 95-55, in both teams’ conference opener. TCNJ (6-0, 1-0 NJAC) outscored the Pioneers 36-6 from three and scored 29 points off 20 William Paterson turnovers. Other winners on NJAC's opening night included New Jersey City (60-56 over Ramapo), Stockton (94-87 over Kean), and Rowan (107-102 over Montclair State).

No. 24 Hood and No. 25 Anderson narrowly entered the Top 25 this week, but neither is likely to remain in the next poll. Shenandoah, which was picked seventh in the ODAC preseason poll, beat Hood, 99-89, for its third win of the season. Joshua Stephen scored 26 points and Ellis Wright added 20 off the bench for the Hornets who shot 53 percent from the field. Anderson fell to North Park in Chicago, 72-64, as the Ravens could not overcome a rough shooting night from three. The Ravens went for 4 for 30 (13 percent) from behind the arc while North Park got 18 points, including four 3-pointers, from Davante Robinson.