Washington & Jefferson (22-6, 14-2) vs. #10 / #15 Illinois Wesleyan (22-5, 15-1 CCIW)

When: Friday, March 6, 2026
Where: Holland, Mich. / Hope College
Court: DeVos Fieldhouse
Time: 6:00 P.M.

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SERIES HISTORY: The Washington & Jefferson College Presidents will square off with the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan College for the second time in women's basketball. The first and only matchup between the two programs was on November 16th, 2013, and resulted in an 84-70 victory for Illinois Wesleyan. The contest was W&J's first of the 2013-14 season, and took place in Baltimore, Maryland as a part of Johns Hopkins University's Mike Durgala Memorial Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE TITANS: Illinois Wesleyan enters the NCAA Tournament with a 22–5 overall record and is ranked among the nation's top 15 teams in two of the most respected Division III polls, coming in at No. 10 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 and No. 15 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll. After capturing its 12th College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship, IWU went a perfect 2-0 in the league tournament to capture the title, defeating Carthage College in the semifinal round before upending top-seeded Carroll University in overtime to secure the title. Three Titans were named to CCIW All-Conference teams, as announced by the league on February 23rd. Ava Bardic and Sawyer White were selected as unanimous  first-team selections, while Caitlin Leyden picked up a second-team nomination and was awarded CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year.
 
BACK-TO-BACK IN THE PAC: With its win over Saint Vincent in the PAC Tournament title round game, W&J claimed the 2026 PAC Championship, marking the first time under Jina DeRubbo, and first time since joining the Presidents' Athletic Conference that the program has captured back-to-back league titles. The conference title is the 14th in the history of women's basketball at W&J and the eighth PAC title for the Presidents.
 
LAST YEAR'S MAGIC: W&J delivered a historic season last year, assembling the most successful campaign in program history. The Presidents' postseason run began with a PAC tournament semifinal victory over Grove City and continued with a title-round win over Chatham to secure the tournament title and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. In the first round of the national tournament, W&J earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history with an overtime triumph over No. 24 Messiah. The run concluded in the second round, when the Presidents came up short against No. 18 Ohio Wesleyan. W&J's 24 wins during the 2024-25 campaign, are tied for most in a single season in program history.
 
HUNGRY FOR MORE: In her 21+ years at W&J, head coach Jina DeRubbo has guided the program to 15 national postseason appearances, including seven trips to the NCAA tournament.
 
CAN'T CONTAIN KOVALCHICK: W&J junior center Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area) has been the engine of the W&J offense as of late. The junior shot 20-36 (.556) from the field and averaged 18.3 points per game during the PAC Tournament. Kovalchick was named to the PAC All-Tournament Team and first team All-PAC for her efforts.
 
STELL-AR LOUTSION: Senior guard Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) was named the PAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 16.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game during the tournament. Loutsion is 10th in program history in scoring, standing 21 points back of ninth place.
 
THEY'RE FREE: The W&J Presidents are tops in the nation in free throw percentage with a season mark of 80.4%. W&J has six players over 80% from the charity stripe that have at least 30 attempts: Loutsion (85.9%), Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) (85.2%), Marina Grado (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) (83.6%), Raegan Kadlecik (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) (82.4%), Jaden Wan (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock) (81.8%), and Kovalchick (80.6%). Loutsion and DeRubbo rank 24th and 29th in the statistics, respectively.
 
2025-26 LEAGUE LEADERS: The following qualified Presidents rank within the top 10 of PAC statistics at for the 2025-26 season (through end of regular season):
 
- Points Per Game: (15.3) DeRubbo (5th), (14.) Kovalchick (t-6th), (13.8) Loutsion (t-10th)
- Field Goal Percentage: (.522) Kovalchick (4th), (.413) Loutsion (10th)
- Free Throw Percentage: (.861) DeRubbo (1st), (.793) Kovalchick (4th)
- 3-PT Field Goals Per Game: (2.0) DeRubbo (t-7th)
- Assists Per Game: (3.4) Grado (t-7th)
- Assist/Turnover Ratio: (1.7) Grado (2nd)
- Blocks Per Game: (1.1) Kovalchick (7th), (0.9) Loutsion (t-8th)
- Minutes Per Game: (31.6) DeRubbo (10th)                                  
- Single-Game Points: (30 at Saint Vincent 2/11/26) Kovalchick (t-6th), (29 vs. Allegheny 1/24/26) Kovalchick (t-10th)
- Single-game field goals: (12 at Saint Vincent 2/11/26) Kovalchick (t-5th)