HANNIBAL, MO. – Melanie McCreight (Jr.-Winfield, Iowa) led the Iowa Wesleyan College women’s basketball team in scoring for the second straight game and the Tiger dominated play in the paint for the third straight game in defeating Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College 83-65 Saturday evening.
McCreight scored 15 points and the Tigers shot 54.2% from the field in winning their fifth straight game to improve to 7-6 this season. IWC also out-rebounded the Trojans 44-20, dominating the boards for the third straight game and winning the rebounding battle for the 10th time in 13 games.
Sheray Brown (Jr.-Detroit, Mich.) also had 15 rebounds, her third straight game with at least 15 boards. Wesleyan has now out-rebounded its last three opponents 150-65, an average margin of +28.3 per game. For the season IWC has a +9.7 rebound margin per game, ranking 12th in NAIA Division II in that category.
The Tigers took control early on against Hannibal-LaGrange. A 14-2 run finished by a jumper by McCreight gave IWC an early 16-5 lead just over five minutes into the game. A 13-0 spurt followed shortly after, and when Megan Couch (Sr.-Mooresville, Ind.) hit a jumper Wesleyan had a 31-8 lead with 7:54 remaining in the first half.
IWC led by as many as 26 points in the first half on its way to a 46-22 halftime lead. The Tigers opened up a 32-point margin early in the second half and cruised the rest of the way. HLG finished the game outscoring Wesleyan 16-5 over the final 4:54 to make the score more respectable at the end.
Jessi Beachey (Jr.-Fisher, Ill.) scored 13 points and Jill Ginder (Jr.-Olney, Ill.) also scored in double figures with 10 points. Couch added nine points off the bench as the Tiger bench outscored HLG’s bench 35-2. Anna Jones (So.-Cornell, Ill.) added 10 rebounds and Ginder also finished with five assists. IWC shot 32 of 59 for the game, making better than 50% of its shots in both the first and second halves.
Hannibal-LaGrange shot 32.8% for the game, making 22 of 67 shots, and dropped to 4-8 this season. Michiko Namba led the Trojans with 18 points.
Wesleyan will take a break during the week for final exams before the Tigers hit the road Friday for an invitational hosted by Calumet College in Whiting, Ind. IWC will open on Friday against Marian (Ind.) University at 5:30 p.m. and will then face Walsh (Ohio) University on Saturday at noon.
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score IWC 83 HLG 65
