Illinois wesleyan clinches first cciw tournament title since 2003

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- For the first time since the 2002-03 season, Illinois Wesleyan earned the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Women's Basketball Tournament title Saturday in a 75-64 victory over Millikin in the championship game.

With the win, the Titans earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, with the selections to be announced Sunday, March 2, and the full bracket released Monday, March 3. This was the second tournament title in school history for Illinois Wesleyan who also took home the regular season title with a 13-1 conference record.

Christina Solari led Illinois Wesleyan with 22 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the field and 15 rebounds. All-American Mallory Heydorn scored 19 for the Titans while Colleen Caplice had 11.

Millikin all-American Lindsay Ippel scored 25 points and tallied eight rebounds while Kayla Pembrook had 11 points and nine rebounds on the afternoon.

In Friday's semifinal games, Illinois Wesleyan defeated Elmhurst 78-57 while Millikin topped Carthage 49-48.