Jan. 15, 2008

Submitted by Kyle Schmidt, Sports Information Director, Indiana Wesleyan University

MARION, Ind. -- Defense win championships...and 56 games in a row.

Indiana Wesleyan University set a new NAIA women's basketball record as the Wildcats compiled a 56-game win streak.

The Wildcats' last lost before the streak was on March 10, 2006, to Northwestern (Iowa) College in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament. Indiana Wesleyan's streak lasted for over 22 months.

IWU commenced their record on October 31, 2006 with a 71-32 victory over St. Mary-of-the-Wood (Ind.) College to open the 2006-07 season. After a national championship and many broken records, Indiana Wesleyan's historic run came to an end on January 12, 2008 with a 52-49 loss to No. 7-ranked Bethel (Ind.) College.

The first 38 games of the historic run will be remembered most.

After starting the 2006-07 season with lofty expectations, as Indiana Wesleyan was ranked No. 4 in the NAIA pre-season poll, the Wildcats did not disappoint.

IWU kicked off the season with eight straight wins by double digits. But on November 18, 2006, the Wildcats were challenged by Cornerstone (Mich.) University in the annual MCC/WHAC Challenge.

Indiana Wesleyan trailed throughout the contest and had an 11 point handicap to open the second half, down 33-22. But NAIA All-American senior forward Liz Howerth carried the Wildcats via 34 points and 16 rebounds. With the huge effort by Howerth, Indiana Wesleyan captured a 60-57 advantage in the closing moments. A last second three-pointer by Cornerstone did not find its intended target as IWU survived to improve to 9-0.

In the first poll of the regular season on December 6, 2006, Indiana Wesleyan claimed the top spot with a 12-0 record. The Wildcats would not relinquish the No. 1 billing the rest of the season.

IWU streaked through the rest of the 2006 portion of the schedule and reached 2007 with a 17-0 record, with the bulk of Mid-Central College Conference action left to play. Indiana Wesleyan still had home-and-home contests with NAIA top-10 opponents Bethel and University of Saint Francis (Ind.), as well as top-25 and county rival Taylor (Ind.) University.

Road games at No. 8-ranked Bethel and No. 3-ranked Saint Francis were aligned on back-to-back Saturday afternoons in early January, 2007. Indiana Wesleyan would earn a 63-50 victory at Bethel and a decisive 74-51 win at Saint Francis.

Spring Arbor (Mich.) University and Marian (Ind.) College each pushed Indiana Wesleyan more than anticipated, but IWU survived with seven point victories in each game.

The close calls preceded back-to-back Wednesday evening rematches with Bethel and Saint Francis at home in Luckey Arena. Each opponent was ranked No. 3 nationally at the time of each contest. The Wildcats dispatched Bethel 66-50 and Saint Francis 54-46.

Indiana Wesleyan completed their regular season at home, welcoming rival Taylor into Luckey Arena. Taylor entered the contest ranked No. 22.

The Wildcats found themselves trailing at halftime, 31-22, for only the second time all season. But just like the last time, Indiana Wesleyan scratched out a victory. IWU gained their first lead of the game at 38-37, nine minutes into the second half.

With the Wildcats leading by one point with 45 seconds remaining, Taylor turned the ball over. IWU connected on their free throws down the stretch to escape with a 56-51 win. Indiana Wesleyan finished the regular season with a 30-0 mark and an unblemished 16-0 MCC record.

After dominating Goshen (Ind.) College in the opening round of the MCC Tournament, Indiana Wesleyan met up once again with Taylor in the conference semifinals.

Once again, Taylor led at halftime with a 25-21 advantage. But the second half showcased the suffocating Wildcat defense as IWU forced Taylor into 29-percent shooting. Indiana Wesleyan was able to pull away late, before cementing the game with free throws. The 46-41 win catapulted IWU into the MCC finals, where Indiana Wesleyan defeated Saint Francis, 58-49, for the third time during the season.

Indiana Wesleyan entered the NAIA Division II National Championships with the top seed and a 33-0 record.

The Wildcats made quick work of College of St. Joseph (Vt.) 69-25 in the first round of the 32-team tournament. IWU then defeated No. 13-ranked Tabor (Kan.) College 61-44 in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals.

IWU denied the defending national champions, Hastings (Neb.) College, 61-52. Hastings tested Indiana Wesleyan late in the second half as they closed the IWU lead to 49-48 with six minutes to play. But Indiana Wesleyan answered with a 3-pointer as the Wildcats never let their lead slip below four points the rest of the game to advance to the national semifinals.

Indiana Wesleyan crushed Cedarville in the semifinals 93-56. IWU jumped out of the gate with a 12-2 run and never looked back. Senior Sarah McGill scored 21 of her game-high 31 points in the first half.

Playing in their first NAIA championship game in program history, Indiana Wesleyan completed the first ever NAIA Division II perfect season with a 48-34 victory over No. 2-ranked College of the Ozarks (Mo.), the 2005-06 national runner-up.

In the lowest scoring game in tournament history, Indiana Wesleyan stifled the Ozarks' offense to just 34 points, their lowest output of the season by 32 points.

The championship victory gave Indiana Wesleyan a perfect 38-0 season. The 38 wins in one season is a NAIA record, previously held by Claflin (S.C.) University with 37 wins in the 1987-88 season.

In the first game of the 2007-08 season, Indiana Wesleyan was given a huge scare by Indiana University-South Bend. IU-South Bend led 51-50 with 34 seconds left in the contest, but freshman Kayla Thompson, competing in her first collegiate game, connected on the game-winning basket with 11 seconds remaining. IU-South Bend had one last chance to stop the IWU streak at 38 games, but their last shot attempt, from just outside of the lane, only drew iron to preserve the win streak.

Indiana Wesleyan cruised through their next seven contests, with only one game being decided by less than 10 points, as the Wildcat win streak reached 46 games.

The Wildcats hosted conference rival Goshen on December 4, 2007, one win away from tying the NAIA record for consecutive victories, held by Southwestern Oklahoma University (1983-84). IWU doubled up on Goshen, 70-35, to tie the record at 47.

On December 8, 2007, Indiana Wesleyan looked to secure the record and pass Southwestern Oklahoma. On a day with the 2006-07 seniors in attendance, as Indiana Wesleyan raised the 2007 NAIA championship banner, the Wildcats overpowered Spring Arbor 71-57 to claim the new record at 48 straight victories.

Win No. 49 was a much more difficult task.

Indiana Wesleyan once again battled Cornerstone in the MCC/WHAC Challenge. The Wildcats dodged a bullet as Cornerstone missed two shot attempts at the buzzer as IWU survived 51-50.

The Wildcat mark reached 56 wins in a row following a win over 13-3 Marian on January 9, 2008. But No. 7-ranked Bethel loomed as a major hurdle for the win streak.

No. 5-ranked Indiana Wesleyan battled Bethel in Luckey Arena on January 12, 2008. Indiana Wesleyan's streak was in jeopardy as IWU trailed 48-41 with five minutes left to play.

Indiana Wesleyan fought back and took advantage of free throw opportunities. After a field goal by junior guard Andrea Fichter, the Wildcats connected on four free throws in their next two possessions to claw back to a one point deficit, 48-47.

Bethel would make one of two from the charity stripe with 1:23 remaining to take a 49-47 lead, but Fichter tied the game at 49-49 with a pair of free throws and only 29 seconds remaining.

Indiana Wesleyan played solid defense on Bethel as the Pilots looked to take the last shot. But after Bethel guard Nora Didrick drove to the basket, she kicked the ball out to a waiting Brittany Cook in the corner. Cook connected on the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds remaining as Bethel seized a 52-49 lead.

The Wildcats half-court shot at the buzzer was short and the 56-game win streak came to an end.

One word can sum up the success of the Indiana Wesleyan 56-game win streak: defense.

During the historic run, the Wildcats held their opponents to 46.5 points per game. Ranked opponents did not fend much better, as they only averaged 48.6 points.

The defensive pressure was evident throughout the streak. Only one team could muster over 60 points against the robust Indiana Wesleyan defense. That came by Indiana Tech in an 80-67 Wildcat victory on December 2, 2006.

The streak, which lasted over parts of three calendar years, was not achieved with the scheduling of bad teams playing in Luckey Arena. Only 17 games were played in Marion while 39 games were played on the road or at a neutral site.

In 36 of the 56 games, Indiana Wesleyan opponents held records of .500 or better. The combined record of all 56 teams at the start of the contest is an astounding 465-306, good for a .603-winning percentage.

IWU defeated 12 ranked opponents during the streak, nine of them being ranked in the top-10. Two victories were against opponents ranked No. 2 and four against No. 3.

Although any loss leaves a sting, a loss to end such a record stings a little more. But the pain of the loss quickly subsides as IWU head coach Steve Brooks quickly dismisses the defeat and moves on to the next game.

The historic streak is also an afterthought in the minds of the student-athletes who worked so hard to build the record. They will reflect back on the streak when the season is over and their work is done. Only then will they be able to enjoy what all their time and hard work accomplished.

Brooks and his players know there is much work left to do in the 2007-08 season.

Their goals remain the very same from the beginning of the season. One loss in January will not change that.