From University of Chicago Athletics
The University of Chicago women's basketball team rallied back from a double-digit deficit and made clutch free throws to upset No. 24-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University 69-63 on Saturday.
The Maroons improved to 2-4 and the Titans dropped to 4-3.
IWU started out with an 8-2 lead. UChicago got six-straight points from sophomore forward Britta Nordstrom and a pair of layups by senior forward Hannah Ballard got the team within two points at 14-12. The Titans maintained a lead for the rest of the half and UChicago senior forward Claire Devaney's layup at the intermission buzzer made the score 38-30.
Nordstrom led the way with eight points in the half while three others contributed six points each. UChicago was hampered by 19 first-half turnovers.
The Titans continued to expand their lead in the second half, going up by 11 points midway through after making a three-pointer. From that point at 53-42, UChicago made its move. Freshman guard Elizabeth Nye scored seven points in-a-row for the Maroons and the visitors clawed back to within one point at 57-56.
In the final two minutes of the game, UChicago drew critical fouls to score points with the clock stopped. Sophomore guard Stephanie Anderson's two free throws gave the team a 64-62 lead. The Maroons were lights out from the free throw line, making 11 of their last 12 attempts to get the win.
UChicago's bench came up big with 34 of the team's 69 points. Nordstrom and Devaney led the scoring with 13 points apiece. Ballard tallied 10 points in only seven minutes of action on the court.
The Maroons led the rebounding category 43-32, which helped them gain a 16-2 advantage on second-chance points. Turnovers were close to even with 26 by the Maroons and 24 by the Titans.
UChicago Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 43.6 percent (24-55)
Three-point Percentage – 14.3 percent (2-14)
Free-throw Percentage – 73.1 percent (19-26)
Britta Nordstrom (Forward, So.) – 13 points, 5 rebounds
Claire Devaney (Forward, Sr.) – 13 points, 7 rebounds
Elizabeth Nye (Guard, Fr.) – 12 points, 5 rebounds
Hannah Ballard (Forward, Sr.) – 10 points, 4 rebounds