BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan shot .565 from the field Saturday on its way to an 81-65 win over Augustana at the Shirk Center. The Vikings dropped to 11-7 overall and 5-4 in the CCIW, while the Titans moved to 15-3 and maintained a share of the conference lead at 8-1.

 

Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) had a pair of baskets as Augustana took an 8-6 lead three minutes in, but Sydney Shanks answered with consecutive field goals and IWU wouldn't trail again. The Vikings pulled even at 10 and 12-all on buckets by Maddy Murillo (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.), but Maddie Merritt's deuce with 4:36 left in the first quarter put the Titans up for good. They went on to lead 24-18 after one period.
 
The hosts really heated up in quarter number two, hitting 10 of 16 field goal attempts, including two of four from behind the arc. They opened the period with a 12-3 run to go up 36-21 seven minutes before halftime. Nina Anderson scored at the 1:46 mark to give IWU its biggest lead of the half (46-27) and the Titans took a 48-30 advantage to the locker room.
 
More hot shooting in the third quarter (nine of 15, .600) helped Wesleyan extend the margin to 24 (69-45) heading to the fourth.
 
Samantha Monroe's jumper with 6:13 to play gave IWU its biggest lead of the night at 80-49. Augustana trimmed the final margin to 16, outscoring the Titans 16-1 the rest of the way behind some spirited play off the bench from junior Jeni Crain (Woodstock HS, Woodstock, Ill.). Crain had eight points, two steals and an assist in the final 5:07 of the game.
 
Crain finished with a team-high 13 points. Roberts also reached double figures with 10 points. Junior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) led the Vikings with six rebounds and senior Izzy Anderson (Alleman HS, Rock Island, Ill.) dished out a team-best four assists.
 
Sydney Shanks led the Titans with 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. Merritt, with 14 points (5-7 from the floor) and Raven Hughes with 11 (5-5), joined her in double figures. Ashley Schneider and Riley Brovelli each collected six rebounds to help IWU to a 34-26 edge on the glass.
 
Despite hitting just three of 15 (.200) three-point attempts, the Titans finished the night 35 of 62 from the field. They also converted eight of nine (.889) from the foul line. Augustana shot .463 on 25 of 54 field goal tries, .286 (4-14) from beyond the arc and .550 (11-20) from the charity stripe. The Vikings committed 21 turnovers to 18 for IWU.
 
Next up for Beinborn's crew is a trip to Naperville, Illinois on Wednesday, January 23 for a date with the North Central Cardinals. Tipoff at Gregory Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.