Titan women's streak finally comes to an end

Congratulations to Coach Mia Smith and the Illinois Wesleyan women's basketball team, not so much on their 72-67 loss at Carthage on Saturday, but on the remarkable 56-game regular season winning streak that preceded it.

They say you can't win 'em all, though the Titans have tested that theory more than almost any team in any college or professional sport in the last few years (the UConn women's bball team comes to mind as an exception). The loss was the team's first in the regular season and the first against a CCIW foe since January 12, 2008. Between that loss and the one this weekend, they went 63-2, including postseason games.

I didn't see the game against Carthage as it was on the road, but I can tell you that a 13-0 run in the middle of the second half turned a one-point IWU lead into a 12-point deficit from which they were unable to recover. IWU was outrebounded 34-31, were just 12-19 from the free throw line, and saw both Nikki Preston and Brittany Hasselbring foul out. Hope Schulte--who had 13 points in the game--launched a three-point attempt with four seconds remaining but couldn't get it to go down.

So the Titans, who are now 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the CCIW, saw an incredible streak come to an end with a tough loss against another ranked team. But they're still in the midst of an incredible season, and will try to begin a new winning streak with a home game against North Park tomorrow at 7:30. They are now tied with Elmhurst at the top of the CCIW standings, so make a mental note of their match-up with the Bluejays this Saturday at 5:00 at the Shirk Center.