MOUNT VERNON, Iowa-- The No. 15/21 Wartburg women's basketball team (1-1 overall) fell 68-52 to No. 10/12 Illinois Wesleyan Friday night in its first game at the Cornell Classic.

The first quarter remained close as the Titans led 16-13 at the end of that session. The lead would change hands four times halfway through the second quarter until Illinois Wesleyan compiled a 12-2 run to take the 32-22 lead into the locker room.

The Knights outscored the Titans 16-14 in the third, and sliced the margin to 10 (56-46) with 5:06 to play. IWU answered with a 6-0 run off of two turnovers, and the Orange and Black wasn't able to further whittle the margin.

Junior Amanda Brainerd (DeWitt) led the team with her career-high 14 points. Sophomore Payton Draper (Waverly) joined her in double figures with a career-best 10 points. Classmate Tori Hazard (Janesville) had a team-high eight rebounds.

Wartburg owned the team advantage in rebounds (38-31).

The Knights return to the court tomorrow to face Carroll University at 4 p.m.