GAME STATS Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team battled its way to a 71-64 victory against North Park University in two overtimes on Wednesday night inside Wheaton's King Arena. The Thunder improves to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Wheaton will travel to CCIW leader Carthage College on Saturday for a 5 PM tipoff against the Lady Reds.
Senior
Breanna Bohlen led four Wheaton players that scored in double digits with 20 points. Bohlen also added seven rebounds and six assists. Freshman
Hannah Considine (PICTURED LEFT) scored 15 points, while fellow freshman
Ellie Zeller contributed 12 points, with four assists and five rebounds. Senior
Brooke Olson scored 13 points, with four assists.
Maria Panaggio led Wheaton with 11 rebounds and she also scored seven points, with three steals.
Wheaton shot 43.9% (25-57) from the field, with 31.3% (5-16) from behind the three-point arc and 66.7% (16-24) at the free throw line. The Vikings recorded a 35.4% (23-65) effort from the field, with 50% (7-14) from three-point range and 61.1% (11-18) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded North Park 41-40, while the Vikings held a 15-11 edge on the offensive glass.
Kayla McCall led North Park with 17 points, making five three-pointers in the game. Kamauria Acree scored 13 points, with a game-high 14 rebounds and four assists. Nicole Kruckman and Shaina Yalda each contributed eight points for the guests.
Wheaton held a 15-13 lead with 6:45 remaining in the first half when the Thunder put together a 13-6 scoring run to close out the half as Wheaton led the Vikings 28-19 at halftime.
North Park opened the second half with a scoring edge of 11-1 to tie the game at 30-30 with 13:20 remaining in regulation. The remainder of the second half was tightly contested, with the score tied on six occasions in the final 13:20 of regulation. McCall tied the game at 48-48 with 39-seconds left in regulation. Wheaton turned the ball over in its next possession, followed by a North Park turnover with 2.9-seconds left. Wheaton turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass to give the Vikings the ball with 2.9-seconds remaining, however the Vikings missed a pair of field goal opportunities to send the game to overtime.
North Park led Wheaton 58-56 with 31-seconds left in the first overtime when Olson (PICTURED RIGHT) drained a three-pointer to give the Thunder a 59-58 lead. North Park regained possession of the ball with three seconds left and the Vikings' Nicole Kruckman was fouled with two-tenths of a second left in the period. Kruckman made the first charity effort, but missed the second to send the game into its second overtime in a 59-59 tie. Olson scored seven of Wheaton's 11 points in the first overtime.
The Thunder opened the second overtime with three-pointers by Bohlen and Olson to give the hosts a 65-59 lead with 3:22 remaining in the second overtime. The Vikings could get no closer than within three points of the Thunder as Wheaton closed out the 71-64 victory.
