Tic-tac-toe, 11-in-a-row

Iowa Wesleyan and Blackburn have played 11 women's basketball games since Iowa Wesleyan joined the SLIAC, and the Tiger women have won every single one of them. A Massner-led IW squad kept the streak alive on Wednesday night, and in doing so, picked up their first conference win of the year.

'We were locked in,” says IW head coach Jack Bruns. 'We had a really good week of practice, and it's always big to have that first conference win.”

The first half was back-and-forth all the way through. IW outscored the Beavers 15-14 in the first quarter and 13-12 in the second, taking a 28-26 lead at halftime. led by Darby and Allie Massner, who combined for 24 points in the first two quarters.

A couple of jump shots from Darby brought the IW lead to 32-26 early in the third quarter. She punished the Beavers with offensive rebound after offensive rebound and helped the Tigers get the lead to as much as 11 points in the quarter.

Blackburn did buckle down and keep it a close game good stretch of their own later in the period, but IW held a 48-43 lead going into the final quarter.

Unfortunately for Blackburn, as the game went along, the Massners only got better and better. Darby hit a layup to start the scoring in the fourth quarter and Allie drained a three with 8:34 left that gave the Tigers a 10-point lead, at 53-43. Blackburn cut the lead down to five points with seven minutes left, but Allie knocked in a three-point play with 6:48 to end a short Beaver run.

The Massners scored 20 of their 60 combined points in the fourth quarter. Allie had 12 fourth-quarter points of her own, including a turnaround three from NBA range at the shot clock buzzer that banked in to stretch the Tigers' lead to 61-51 with 3:59 to go. When it was all said and done, IW had a 17-point victory.

Darby finished the game with 33 points, all of which came from inside the arc and at the free throw line, and a game-leading 20 rebounds, seven of which were offensive. Allie hit four three-pointers en route to a 27-point performance.

'(Darby) has always been an unbelievable shooter, and still is an unbelievable shooter, but (we've been) just really trying to expand her game,” Coach Bruns said after the game. 'We've seen her ability to rebound the ball (and) that's really going to open up some different options for her. And it really helps that Allie came out and was unbelievable offensively, aggressive and stayed on it.”

Harriet Fowler was a nice boost for the Tigers, as she made her return after being out for a short stint with the injury bug. She scored five points and led the team with three assists.

'Even when she's not scoring, she just controls and dictates for you offensively,” Bruns says. 'It's huge to have her back. She's 100 percent again, so we really feel good going into the new year.”

Deericka Martin and Da'Jaah Swolley scored three points apiece in the win. Jordanne Mickley scored two points, and both Emily Hammel and Claire Hanson finished with one. The Tigers finished the night 27-33 from the free throw stripe, making 13 more free throws than Blackburn attempted.

IW is now 2-8 overall and 1-4 in conference play. They'll be at MacMurray on Saturday, Jan. 5, for the first of three straight SLIAC road games.