GAME STATS
PICTURED ABOVE: Brooke Olson scored 17 points on Tuesday.

Box Score

Notre Dame, Ind. - In the first game of the season, the Wheaton College women's basketball team lost a 66-63 decision at Saint Mary's College (Ind.) on Tuesday.

The Thunder are now 0-1 while the Belles are 1-0.

Despite shooting a torrid 59 percent from the field in the game, rebounds and turnovers were two statistics that went against Wheaton. The Thunder turned the ball over 26 times and were out-rebounded on the offensive glass 16-3.

Saint Mary's led 34-31 at the half in a back-and-forth affair. Halfway through the second half, Wheaton took a 49-47 lead on Maris Hovee's layup with 10:52 left in game. But the Belles soon recaptured the lead and kept it between three and five points the rest of the way.

Wheaton had the chance to tie the game with a possession and 14 seconds left on the game clock. But the Thunder's three-pointer was blocked and the hosts hung on for the victory.

The Thunder shot 23 of 39 from the field (59 percent), 3-of-8 from three-point range (37.5 percent) and 14-of-27 on free throws (52 percent). Brooke Olson and Lauren Graham were the lead scorers with 17 points each. Both players were very efficient from the field, hitting a combined 12 of 17 shots. Hovee (PICTURED RIGHT) was also effective in the post, hitting 6 of 7 shots for 12 points. Lindsey Brenneman added 12 points of her own.

The Belles ended up shooting only 38.5 percent, but took 26 more shots than the Thunder (25 of 65). Saint Mary's also shot 22 percent from beyond the arc (2 of 9) and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe (14 of 16). They also held the rebounding advantage at 36-29. Maggie Ronan collected 16 points and nine rebounds while Kelley Murphy scored 15 points in 21 minutes.

The Thunder will play its first home games of the year this weekend as hosts of the Lee Pfund Classic. Friday's game against Illinois College starts at 3 PM.