GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Brooke Olson scored a game high 23 points and Maris Hovee grabbed a game high 14 rebounds in Wheaton's 62-59 victory over Illinois Wesleyan on Friday.

Kenosha, Wis.- Brooke Olson hit two huge three-pointers in the final minute and a half to erase Thunder deficits and rally the Thunder to a 62-59 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the CCIW Semifinals. Trailing by one, Olson hit a deep straight away three-pointer to give Wheaton the lead for good and move the Thunder into Saturday night's CCIW Championship. Wheaton is now 22-4 on the season including a three-game sweep of the Titans.

Wheaton led for most of the game but the Titans put together a second half rally and a Colleen McMahon jumper with 7:53 remaining gave Illinois Wesleyan their first lead since opening two minutes of play. As would become the theme, Olson answered with a three to regain the lead. Illinois Wesleyan would retake the lead at 50-49 and would hold it until a Hannah Considine (PICTURED LEFT) jumper tied the game at 55 with 1:47 remaining.

Two free throws by Katy Seibring gave IWU a 57-55 lead before Olson hit a right wing three with 1:12 remaining to put the Thunder on top 58-57. McMahon drew a foul on the ensuing possession to give the Titans a 59-58 lead. Once again Olson had the answer, this time pulling up a few feet outside the top of three-point line and swishing home a three-pointer to give Wheaton a 61-59 lead with just 35 seconds remaining. Jenn Lee knocked down one of two free throws with ten seconds left and Maris Hovee (PICTURED RIGHT) blocked the Titans' last second heave to secure the 62-59 victory.

Wheaton shot 23-76 (30.3%) from the field, 7-27 (25.9%) from the three-point line and just 9-16 (56.3%) from the free throw line. The Titans were 17-53 (32.1%) from the field, 4-19 (21.1%) from beyond the arc and 21-26 (80.8%) from the charity stripe.

An early run gave Wheaton control of the game very early in the contest. Trailing 4-2 in the opening minutes, Wheaton went on an 11-0 run over a stretch of six and a half minutes. The Titans were able to respond and work the lead down to 19-17 with 4:34 remaining in the half, but Wheaton scored the next nine points and a pair of Olson free throws gave Wheaton their biggest lead of the half at 28-17. McMahon would stop the run with a lay-up to beat the buzzer and cut the lead to 28-19 at halftime.

Illinois Wesleyan opened the second half on an 11-6 run to cut the lead to four points and finally tied the game at 41 with 11:56 remaining in the game. The Titans would tie the game twice more before retaking the lead at 46-44 with 7:53 remaining.

Olson snagged eight rebounds to go with her 23 points. Hovee's 14 rebounds were accompanied by nine points, three steals and five blocks. Considine scored 12 points for the Thunder. The Titans were led by Katy Seibring with 18 points and six rebounds and Colleen McMahon with 16 points and six rebounds.

Wheaton will advance to face Carthage in Saturday night's CCIW Championship game. That game will tip at 7 PM at Carthage College.

Note worthy: With her first rebound, Maris Hovee became just the 14th player in school history to amass 500 career rebounds...Brooke Olson's seven three-pointers established a new single season school record for three-pointers made with 65...Olson's next three-pointer will move her into a second place tie with Sarah Clark on Wheaton's career three-pointer list with 164...Olson's 23 points moved her into ninth place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list.