Decatur, Ill.(2/15) – The Wheaton women's basketball team picked up its eight consecutive victory with a 76-73 win at rival Millikin on Thursday night. Tonight's win improves the Thunder to 16-6 overall and 11-1 in the CCIW with just two regular season games left. Tonight's victory keeps Wheaton alone atop the CCIW standings and in control of the opportunity to host the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on Feb. 23-24 in King Arena. Millikin is now 18-5 on the season and 9-3 in the CCIW. Wheaton head coach Beth Baker said after the game, “This is one of the best games I have ever been a part of.” She added, “I am really proud of the way we play and the poise that this team played with.”
Junior All-American Jill Trenz led the Thunder with a career-high 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, with seven rebounds. Baker noted of Trenz, “Jill was great tonight. She never quit and she continued to give it her all on the offensive end all night.”
Senior Elizabeth Fox tied her season-high with 19 points and four assists. Guard Katie Heddell continued her strong play with 13 points, including three three-point field goals. Sophomore Kathleen Fidelia added 11 points. Senior Brittany Cooper scored seven points to surpass the 1,000-point milestone in her career with 1,006 career points for the 13th-highest total in school history. Cooper also added eight assists, with seven rebounds and five steals. Baker commented of Cooper and Fox, “Our seniors stepped it up in the last five minutes of the game. Cooper was steady with a great night and Fox came up huge down the stretch.”
Millikin All-American Lindsay Ippel shot 10-for-13 from the field with 27 points and seven rebounds. Megan Mateer and Whitney Schwartz each scored 14 points. Andrea Riebock distributed a team-high five assists.
Wheaton shot 44.1% (30-68) from the field, with a 31.3% (5-16) effort from three-point range and 84.6% (11-13) at the free throw line. Millikin recorded a 53.7% (29-54) field goal percentage, with 47.1% (8-17) from three-point range and 100% (7-7) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Big Blue 32-24, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Wheaton led the Big Blue 38-30 at halftime and increased its lead to 51-37 with 15:30 left in regulation. Millikin battled back with a 10-0 run to cut Wheaton's lead to 53-49 with 13:00 left in regulation. Wheaton led 65-58 with 5:00 left in regulation when the hosts used an 11-2 run to take a 69-67 lead.
Millikin led 71-70 with 1:25 remaining in regulation when Trenz made two free throws to give the Thunder a 72-71 lead. Riebock scored to give Millikin a 73-72 advantage with 1:15 remaining in the game. Fox came up big in the clutch with a basket with 45-seconds left in regulation as Wheaton re-took the lead with a 74-73 advantage. Millikin turned the ball over on its next possession and Fox scored on a layup with 12-seconds left in regulation to extend the Thunder lead to 76-73. A Millikin three-point attempt fell short as time expired and the Thunder emerged with the dramatic and critical victory.
