56 Points in the Paint Vault No. 21 UChicago Past No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan
The 21st-ranked University of Chicago women's basketball team rolled to a 73-54 win over #13 Illinois Wesleyan on Tuesday evening for their second consecutive top-25 win.
This marks the first time the Maroons have won back-to-back games over top-25 opponents since they took down #14 Wheaton (IL) and #11 Trine in 2019.
Both teams jumped out to a hot start as the two teams combined to score on nine of the first ten possessions of the game, but a pair of buckets from
Caroline Workman and
Ruiqi Liu would help stretch the advantage to five at 15-10. However, the Titans would answer the 8-3 UChicago run with a 6-0 run of their own to take a 16-15 lead into the quarter break.
In the second quarter, the Maroons would pick up where they left off as a jumper by Annabelle Spotts put them back in the lead, and a 5-0 run by Kate Gross on a fastbreak layup and a long ball, both on assists by Chris Sanders, helped stretch the lead to 22-16. The Titans would continue to fight and claw back into the game, but a pair of layups inside by Lindsey Carter helped the Maroons take their 33-29 lead itno the locker room.
Spotts stole the show out of the halftime break with layups on three consecutive possessions to force an Illinois Wesleyan timeout, and a three by Gross and layup by Alexis Clark helped the Maroons stretch their lead to double figures at 44-31. The team would not look back as they held a double-figures lead for the rest of the game as the Maroons cruised to a 73-54 win over the Titans. The 19-point win is the largest win over Illinois Wesleyan and the 54 points allowed against the Titans are the fewest in the series since their win in 2015.
As a team, the Maroons were lights out from the floor with a 54.1% shooting percentage, and in the second, they shot over 69% from the floor and held the Titans to just 35% shooting to pull away for the 19-point win. UChicago also dominated the paint, outscoring Illinois Wesleyan 56-28 inside, and the bench production with 27 bench points to just two for the Titans.
Annabelle Spotts led the team with a season-high 17 points on 8-13 shooting from the floor. Bri Simpson and Kate Gross also finished in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Kasi Samuda also had an excellent game despite scoring just two points as she led the team with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
With the win, the Maroons improve to 6-2 on the season.