BLOOMINGTON - Injuries kept Crystal Dye off the court her freshman and junior seasons. Saturday, the Illinois Wesleyan fifth-year senior continued to make up for lost time.

The 5-foot-5 guard had 16 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot … by halftime.

Dye was 5 of 5 from the field, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range, while leading the Titans to a 56-28 halftime lead at Shirk Center. She finished with 17 points and six assists as nationally ranked IWU rolled to a 97-62 nonconference basketball victory over Illinois-Springfield.

The Titans (5-1), ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Division III coaches' poll and No. 12 by D3hoops.com, sank 14 of 28 shots from 3-point territory while topping 90 points for the fourth straight game.

"When Crystal Dye is hitting the 3-pointer, we have four 3-point shooters on the floor," IWU coach Mia Smith said. "Her shot right now … I'm just really pleased with it. She's confident and just so smooth.

"She's finally got to put two years back to back. I think you're seeing what we would have seen had she had four years together."

Dye entered the game 3 of 16 from beyond the arc. When she made her first attempt Saturday with 14:55 left in the first half, it was IWU's fourth 3-pointer and each was from a different player.

The shot gave the Titans a 16-5 lead, and IWU led 18-10 with 12:20 left in the half. The Titans then went on a 20-0 run which included 3-pointers from Mallory Heydorn and Sarah Bull and nine turnovers by Illinois-Springfield (3-8) against IWU's pressure defense.

"That was exciting," Dye said of the surge, which provided a 38-10 cushion. "What makes our offense go is our defense.

"We're a 3-point shooting team, so if we can get a stop and get Sarah or Claire (Sheehan) or Mal (Heydorn) out on the wing, it's usually going in. Coach does a great job of getting 3-point shooters to come here."

Heydorn scored 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc and also had three assists. Bull and Sheehan added 14 points apiece, while senior Kerri Gravlin scored nine on three 3-pointers.

IWU improved to 40 percent from 3-point range for the year (75 of 187).

"We can build leads pretty fast with our fastbreaks and our 3-point shots," Heydorn said. "We have pretty good depth with our 3-point shooters. If one person's not hitting or isn't open, we have two or three more to go to."

Sophomore center Christine Solari contributed eight points and eight rebounds for IWU, which shot 52 percent from the field to Illinois-Springfield's 41 percent.

Six-two center Cherena Douglass had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Prairie Stars, whose 32 turnovers doubled IWU's total.

"I think there's a real connection between our fullcourt pressure defense and us being able to score," Smith said. "It seems like if we can pick up the speed defensively, it picks the speed up for us offensively. I'm a little surprised by the score of this game. I thought it would be a little more competitive."

IWU plays five road games before returning home on Jan. 8 against North Park.