GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE (L-R): Brooke Olson and Elisabeth Potts

Wheaton, Ill. - Hot shooting from behind the three-point arc spurred the Wheaton College women's basketball team to a 70-48 win over North Central College on Saturday.

The Thunder improve to 9-6 overall and even its CCIW record at 2-2. The Cardinals dropped to 6-9 overall, 0-4 in conference.

Wheaton dominated much of the first half, taking an 8-2 lead over the first seven minutes that eventually expanded to 26-14. The hosts went into halftime up 30-22 on the strength of six three-pointers in the opening stanza. Elisabeth Potts hit three of those long-distance shots to tally 11 points, while Laura Karsten added eight points.

However, North Central came out and scored the first seven points after halftime to cut the deficit to 30-29. But a Brooke Olson three pointer jump-started Wheaton's offense as a run of four-straight treys extended the lead to 42-32. The cushion continued to grow to 59-38 and the Cardinals were limited to two points over the game's final five minutes.

The Thunder tied the school single-game record by hitting 14 treys on 27 attempts (52 percent). The 'Orange and Blue' matched the 14 trifectas made against Augustana on February 8, 2011. Wheaton shot 27 of 65 from the field tonight (41 percent) and 2 of 3 from the free throw line (67 percent).

Potts was the leading scorer with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 4 of 5 from distance. Olson hit 4 of her 7 threes to tally 14 points with five assists. Karsten tallied 12 points and Lindsey Brenneman added 11 points.

The Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field (19 of 47), 33 percent from three-point range (5 of 15) and 50 percent from the charity stripe (5 of 10). Emily Collins led the way with eight points and 11 rebounds.

The Thunder continues its homestand against Carthage College at 7:30 PM on Wednesday.