Illinois Wesleyan Women’s Basketball Game Notes,
March 2-3, 2007 in Decorah, Iowa

CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, Sports Information
(309) 556-3206

THE NCAA TOURNEY: Illinois Wesleyan is making its fourth NCAA showing and the first since 2003...The Titans have a 1-3 record in the NCAA tourney, losing in the first round in 1995 at Washington U. (75-69) and falling in the first round in 1996, also at Washington U. (68-63). In 2003 the Titans won at Fontbonne in round one (67-54) before losing at Washington U. by an 80-56 count.

IWU RESULTS IN NCAA POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS (1-3)
1994-95: at Washington (Mo.) L 75-69 (0-1)
1995-96: at Washington (Mo.) L 68-63 (0-2)
2002-03: at Fontbonne W 67-54 (1-2); at Washington (Mo.) L 80-56 (1-3)

MIA SMITH: In her ninth season at Illinois Wesleyan, Mia Smith (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 1986) has compiled a 143-90 overall record (.615) and a 79-47 mark (.627) in the CCIW…With the Jan. 20 win at North Park she became the school’s all-time win leader, passing Mandy Neal (135-120 from 1989-98)…Smith has one CCIW championship (2003) and two NCAA Division III appearances (2003, 2007)…Pronounced “My-a”.

POLLS: The Titans are ranked No. 24 in the Feb. 26 D3hoops.com poll and No. 21 in the USA Today/ESPN Division III poll of Feb. 27. IWU is the highest-ranked team of any in the Luther four-team tournament. Ranked throughout the season since starting with a 10-game winning streak, IWU was ranked as high as No. 10 in both polls the week of Feb. 5-6.

IWU vs. THE FIELD: IWU and Carroll met 13 times between 1985-92 when the Pioneers were members of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin and the Pioneers won all 13 games in the series…IWU has never faced Luther or Concordia (Wis.) in women’s basketball.

MALLORY HEYDORN: Just one day after a career scoring night on Feb. 14, sophomore Mallory Heydorn suffered a broken thumb on her right (shooting) hand at practice on Feb. 15. She did not play in the Titans’ two final regular season games or in the CCIW tournament games…She set both school and CCIW single-game records with 11 3-point field goals, scoring 37 points in IWU’s 84-68 win at Augustana on Feb. 14. The CCIW mark was nine, set by Wheaton’s Stephanie Clark vs. North Park in 1996, and the previous IWU record was eight (Heydorn at Emory on Dec. 29, 2006 and Traci Butler at Southern-New Orleans in 1994). The NCAA Division III record is 15 by Michelle Jones of William Paterson…The 37 points is the third most in an IWU single game, behind Lila Nafziger (45 vs. Eureka, 1979-80) and Sara Seebruch (39 vs. North Central on Jan. 16, 1999)…Heydorn has 84 3-pointers this season which breaks the old IWU mark of 82 set by Katie Cantrell in 2003…Heydorn has 135 career 3-pointers, making her No. 6 all-time and just behind Heidi Harnisch (140, 2003-06)…Heydorn’s 694 career points makes her No. 28 at IWU…CCIW “Player of the Week” twice this year and once chosen to D3Hoops.com “Team of the Week”.

CLAIRE SHEEHAN: Sophomore Claire Sheehan has 77 3-point field goals and ranks No. 13 all-time at IWU, just behind Kristy Jackson with 79 from 2000-02… Her 51 3-pointers is tied for sixth most in a single-season at IWU…Has been IWU’s leading scorer in seven games and top rebounder in three…Had 21 points and 11 rebounds in win at North Park on Jan. 20.

SARAH BULL: Junior Sarah Bull is in her first year at IWU after playing two seasons at Carol Sandburg Junior College in Galesburg …Missed two games (Jan. 31, Feb. 3) with badly sprained ankle…Has been IWU’s leading scorer in 10 games with a season-high of 26 against Eureka…Her 54 3-pointers is fourth most in a single-season at IWU…Finished third in CCIW in free throw accuracy and eighth in both 3-point field goal percentage and steals…CCIW “Player of the Week” once this year.

SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINS: The Titans have 22 victories this season which tops the old single-season mark for wins of 20. That record was previously shared by three teams: 1994 (20-5), 1995 (20-6), and 2003 (20-9).

NCAA STATS: The Titans are No. 2 in the latest national NCAA Division III statistics (through Feb. 25) in 3-pointers made per game (9.1), No. 21 in scoring offense (73.9) and No. 12 in 3-point percentage (.362)…Mallory Heydorn leads the nation with 3.7 3-pointers per game and is 13th in 3-point field goal percentage (.429)…Sarah Bull is 23rd in 3-point field goal percentage (.400) and 32nd in free throw accuracy (.843).

LAUNCHING PAD: Illinois Wesleyan set the school record for 3-pointers in a game with 19 at Emory on Dec. 29, 2006, and also set a school mark when the team attempted 43 3-point field goals at Augustana on Feb. 14…The Titans have made 246 3-pointers this year, topping the old single-season record of 209 (2002-03).

ALL-CONFERENCE: Sophomore guard Mallory Heydorn was chosen to the first team and sophomore teammate Claire Sheehan to the second team of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin all-star squads, selected by league coaches…Heydorn was a second team selection last season. This year she led the league with 3.67 3-pointers per game and was third in 3-point field goal percentage (.389). She was fourth in the league in scoring (14.7) and assists (3.75) and tied for third in steals (2.0). She set a CCIW single-game record with 11 3-point field goals at Augustana, topping the old mark of nine set by Wheaton’s Stephanie Clark vs. North Park in 1996…Sheehan was fifth in free throw percentage (.830) and sixth in 3-pointers per game (1.29). She was 14th in the CCIW in scoring (10.8)…The Titans led the conference in scoring (66.6 points per game), steals (9.0), and 3-point field goals made per game with 7.64 per game, well ahead of the 4.71 per game made by No. 2 Wheaton.

THE COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN IN THE NCAA: Teams from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin have an NCAA Division III tournament record of 41-35 (.539) with two national champions – Millikin in 2005 and North Central in 1983. North Central also got fourth in 1984 and Millikin placed third in 1985.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Illinois Wesleyan has a total of 102 Academic All-America berths earned by Titan student-athletes since the program began in 1970, a total eclipsed by only six other schools, including Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Illinois Wesleyan has 15 first team Academic All-Americans in men’s basketball, a total that is second overall behind only UCLA (with 17). Teams with 13 first team Academic All-Americans are Indiana and Kansas. Other schools ranking highly in first team Academic All-Americans are Duke (12), Notre Dame (11), Kentucky (9), and Brigham Young and Millikin (8)…IWU has had an “Academic All-American of the Year” five times, including Keelan Amelianovich for men’s basketball last in 2007. In 1999 and 2000, Korey Coon was the "Academic All-American of the Year" for men’s basketball. Quarterback Lon Erickson was the 1996 College Division Football "Academic All-America of the Year" and outfielder James Rinne won the "Academic All-America of the Year" honor in baseball in 1998.