Box Score

Wheaton, Ill. - On Senior Day in her final home game, Kelly Brooks rattled off 14 second-half points to lead the Wheaton College women's basketball team to a 72-59 victory over Elmhurst College on Saturday.

The Thunder (18-6 overall, 11-3 CCIW) is the No. 2-seed in the CCIW Tournament and will face No. 3-seed Millikin University next Friday in Bloomington, Ill. The Bluejays end their season at 10-14, 5-8 in conference.

It was a rough early going for both sides as Wheaton suffered through an offensive malaise and Elmhurst committed a rash of turnovers that kept the score 5-4 Bluejays in the first five minutes. The Thunder started to get into an offensive flow when Elisabeth Potts picked a steal and went in for a transition layup and a foul.

Wheaton's increasing aggressiveness driving the lane was simultaneous to the team's increased intensity on defense, particularly with post denial. A trio of three-pointers by Brooke Olson put the hosts up 28-15. But Elmhurst rallied back with jumpers to go into halftime down 32-25.

The second half saw Wheaton rebound the ball better while Elmhurst started to finish more often in the paint. The teams traded baskets until a series of missed Thunder layups allowed the Bluejays back in the game, down 47-41.

That's when Brooks stepped up and began scoring in bunches in the paint. The 6-foot senior center tallied seven straight points and 14 overall in the second half, both on layups and long step-back jumpers. Olson was an effective distributor, dishing well in transition to create easy layups for her teammates.

Back up 60-49, Wheaton locked back down on defense. The Thunder led by 14 with three minutes left and kept the game in double-digits the rest of the way.

Saturday night was also the final home game for fellow senior post player Annie Bowen. The team captain scored 10 points and pulled down three rebounds on the night to complement Brooks' game-high 18 points. Olson ran the offense to the tune of 15 points and seven assists on the evening. Potts scored nine points with six rebounds.

As a team, Wheaton shot 51 percent from the field on the night (29-57), 31 percent from three-point range (4-13) and 62 percent from the free throw line (10-16).

Elmhurst finished the game shooting 41 percent overall (22-54), 33 percent from beyond the arc (7-21) and 67 percent from the charity stripe (8-12). Megan Ney scored 14 points with eight rebounds while Meghan Merklein totaled 14 points and six rebounds.