CLINTON – Jessi Beachey (Jr.-Fisher, Ill.) scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Iowa Wesleyan College held Ashford University to 28.3% shooting in a 77-43 win over the Saints in a Midwest Collegiate Conference game Tuesday night.
IWC never trailed and dominated play inside against yet another opponent, out-rebounding the Saints 59-22, including 26 offensive rebounds, and outscoring the hosts 36-18 in the paint. The Tigers won their eighth straight game to improve to 10-6 overall, 3-0 in conference play.
Wesleyan shot just 31.6% in the first half but had 15 offensive rebounds in taking a 32-19 halftime lead. The Tigers then put the game away with a 23-4 spurt early in the second half, turning a 10-point lead into a 59-30 bulge with 10:30 left in the game. Beachey had 12 points in the run and IWC made eight straight shots at one point.
Jill Ginder (Jr.-Olney, Ill.) joined Beachey in double figures scoring with 13 points. Ginder also was one of four players to finish with seven rebounds, along with Anna Jones (So.-Cornell, Ill.), Sheray Brown (Jr.-Detroit, Mich.) and Angela Brinkmeyer (Sr.-Hubbard, Iowa). Ginder and Jones both also had game highs with five assists each.
The Tigers shot 27-for-74 (36.5%) and made 17 of 20 free throw attempts (85.0%). IWC also finished with 26 offensive rebounds, more than the Saints’ total rebound total for the game. Ashford shot 15 of 53 from the floor and dropped to 8-7 overall, 1-2 in the MCC.
Wesleyan now will have a two-week break before its next game, a big one against nationally ranked St. Ambrose University. The Tigers will take on the Queen Bees on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in Ruble Arena in a game matching the top two teams in the conference standings early in the season.
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 77 Ashford 43
