BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Wisconsin Lutheran College overcame a 16-point deficit in the first half, but in the end, fell to seventh-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University 84-69 Saturday in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship at the Shirk Center.
Wisconsin Lutheran held a slim lead for the opening 4:12 of the first half, before Illinois Wesleyan used an 11-0 run to take a nine-point lead, 16-7, at the 13:29 mark. IWU maintained its lead for the rest of the half, up to as many as 16 points, before sophomore Shavon Dillon (Milwaukee, Wis./Hope School) sank a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. WLC went into halftime trailing by 13 points, 40-27.
Despite turning the ball over just eight times in the first half against a team that thrives on creating turnovers, the Warriors shot just 31.3 percent (10-for-32). Wisconsin Lutheran struggled from behind the arc, shooting 23.1 percent (3-for-13). Dillon scored 12 points to lead WLC in the opening frame. IWU out-rebounded the Warriors 28-17 in the first frame.
Illinois Wesleyan had three players reach double figures in the half and was led by Stacey Arlis' 13 points. Olivia Lett and Nikki Preston added 12 and 11, respectively. The Titans finished the first half shooting 41.9 percent (13-for-31) from the field.
Trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Warriors opened the second half on a 7-0 run to get within just six points, 40-34, at the 17:58 mark. WLC held IWU to scoring just seven points through the first eight minutes of the second half. The Warriors out-scored the Titans 27-9 and took a 51-49 lead at the 8:52 mark. IWU scored the next five points to regain the lead. WLC kept its deficit within four points with just under six minutes to play. The Titans then extended their lead to 10 points with 1:25 to play and kept it in double figures the remainder of the way.
Junior Rachel Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) scored 11 points for the Warriors in the second half. WLC shot a much-improved 43.8 percent (14-for-32) in the half. Wisconsin Lutheran out-rebounded IWU 20-14 in the second half. Preston and Arlis once again paced the Titans, who shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26), with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Dillon paced the Warriors with a team-high 20 points, while Johnson added 13. Erika Laete (Spokane, Wash./Evergreen Lutheran), who finished with eight points in the contest, also collected a team-high eight rebounds in her final game for the forest green and white. WLC, which was out-rebounded 42-37 for the game, shot 37.5 percent (24-for-64) from the floor.
Arlis tied a game high with 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Titans (25-4), who will face Coe College (26-3) in next weekend's sectional round. Preston also tied a game high with 26 points. Olivia Lett was the third player from IWU to reach double figures with 20 points on four three-pointers. The Titans shot 43.9 percent (25-for-57) for the game and were benefited from 84.8 percent (28-for-33) free throw shooting.
Wisconsin Lutheran concludes its 2010-11 season with an all-time best record of 26-4. Heading into Saturday's game, the Warriors were one of just 16 teams in NCAA Division III to reach at least 25 wins on the season.