Wheaton, Ill.– (1/23) – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team used a strong second half surge to defeat CCIW rival Millikin 69-46 on Tuesday night in Wheaton's King Arena. The Thunder improves to 10-6 overall and 5-1 in league play, while Millikin is now 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the CCIW. With tonight's victory Wheaton takes sole possession of second place in the CCIW, one game ahead of the Big Blue.
Millikin jumped out to an 18-4 lead over the first eight minutes of tonight's game. The Big Blue led 31-19 with 1:40 left in the first half; however Wheaton out-scored the guests 9-1 in the final 1:30 of the opening half as Millikin held a 32-28 lead at halftime.
The Thunder came out of the locker room at halftime with the same momentum it closed the half with. Wheaton out-scored Millikin 32-6 in the opening 13 minutes of the second half to take a commanding 60-38 lead with 7:00 left in the game. Freshman Sarah Jones gave Wheaton a huge spark off the bench with 10 points and four rebounds in the hosts' surge.
Sophomore Kathleen Fidelia led Wheaton with 15 points, four assists and eight rebounds, including five offensive boards. Junior center Jill Trenz scored 13 points, with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Jones scored 10 points, all in the second half, with three steals. She also collected five rebounds, including four offensive boards. Whitney Edgecombe shot 5-for-5 from the field, in scoring 10 points. Brittany Cooper scored eight points with five assists and Elizabeth Fox dished out seven assists. Edgecombe and Jones led a strong effort by Wheaton's reserves as the Thunder bench contributed 29 points tonight.
All-American Lindsay Ippel led Millikin with 20 of Millikin's 46 points. Ippel also collected seven rebounds.
Wheaton shot 42.3% (30-71) for the game, with 25% (6-24) from three-point range and 75% (3-4) at the charity stripe. Millikin posted a 27.8% (15-54) field goal percentage, with 13.3% (2-15) from three-point range and 77.8% (14-18) from the free throw line. Wheaton out-rebounded the Big Blue 42-40, with a 17-15 edge on the offensive glass. Millikin committed 21 turnovers in the game, as the Thunder out-scored the guests 21-10 in points off of turnovers.
