BOXSCORE

Notre Dame, Ind. – The Thunder women's basketball team picked up its third consecutive victory on Thursday night with a 75-74 victory at St. Mary's College (Ind.). Wheaton is now 13-9 overall, while St. Mary's falls to 12-10 on the season. The Thunder will travel to #3-ranked Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday at 5 PM in Bloomington, Illinois.

St. Mary's built up a 20-10 lead over the first seven minutes of the first half. Wheaton rallied back with a 9-1 scoring run to cut the Belles' lead to 21-20 with 8:05 remaining in the first half. Wheaton built up a five-point advantage with a 40-35 lead at halftime of the game.

Wheaton out-scored the hosts 10-4 in the first four minutes of the second half to extend its lead to 50-39. Wheaton increased its lead to as many as 13 points in the second half, on two occasions including a 62-49 Thunder lead with nine minutes left in the game. Wheaton held an eight-point advantage at 72-64 with 2:15 remaining in the game. However, St. Mary's closed out the game with an 11-3 run to cut Wheaton's lead to 75-74. A St. Mary's three-pointer as time expired bounced of the rim as the Thunder held of the Belles' rally to earn the win.

Wheaton sophomore Lindsey Brenneman led the Thunder offense with 13 points and six assists. Kelly Brooks (PICTURED RIGHT) came off the Thunder bench to score 12 points and she collected four rebounds. Elisabeth Potts scored 10 points, with six rebounds. Senior Sarah Jones scored nine points, with five assists and five rebounds. Freshman Shannon McNeil scored six points and she grabbed six rebounds.

Anna Kammrath led St. Mary's with 21 points and 13 points. Kelly Murphy scored 18 points, with six rebounds. Patsy Mahoney scored 15 points, with five assists and Jessica Centa scored 14 points and she collected seven rebounds.

The Thunder posted a 48.3% (28-58) field goal percentage, with 40% (6-15) from three-point range and 81.3% (13-16) at the free throw line. St. Mary's shot 41.3% (26-63) from the field, with 23.1% (3-13) from behind the three-point arc and 67.9% (19-28) from the free throw line. St. Mary's out-rebounded the Thunder 45-31, with an 18-6 edge on the offensive glass.