Bloomington, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team earned a 72-46 victory at Illinois Wesleyan (6-7, 0-2 CCIW) on Wednesday night. Wheaton's 26-point win against the Titans tonight is the largest margin of victory for the Thunder against IWU since a 66-32 win by Wheaton in Bloomington in the 2004-05 season.
Wheaton improves to 12-1 overall with its fifth consecutive victory and the squad is 2-0 in CCIW play. The
#13-ranked Thunder will host North Central (13-0, 2-0 CCIW) on Saturday as the
#24th-ranked Cardinals visit King Arena in a 5:00 p.m. tipoff.
The Titans held a 4-2 lead in the first three minutes of tonight's game; however, it was the only lead of the game for the hosts. Sophomore
Chantal Meacham (PICTURED LEFT) gave the Thunder a 5-4 lead with a three-pointer with 16:50 left in the first half and her trey sparked a 9-3 run for the Thunder that extended Wheaton's lead to 11-7 with 12:40 left in the first half. The Thunder held a 26-21 lead at the halftime intermission.
The Thunder opened the second half with a 14-4 run that gave the guests a 40-25 lead with 13:40 left in regulation as
Hannah Considine and
Katie McDaniels combined to score 10 of Wheaton's 14 points in the run. Wheaton continued to extend its lead through the final 10 minutes of the game as Wheaton twice owned a 29-point advantage, the final occasion was in a 72-43 lead with 37-seconds left in the game.
McDaniels and
Lauren Graham each led the Thunder with 13 points on the night. Considine (PICTURED RIGHT) tallied her third "double-double" of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Ellie Zeller scored 10 points with seven rebounds. Meacham scored eight points and distributed a game-high six assists.
Jennifer Berg grabbed six rebounds for the Thunder.
Wheaton shot 48% (24-of-50) from the field, including 25% (2-for-8) from three-point range and an 81.5% (22-for-27) effort at the free throw line. The Titans posted a 25.8% (16-for-62) field goal percentage, with 8.7% (2-for-23) behind the three-point arc and 52.2% (12-for-23) at the charity stripe. The Thunder dominated the boards with a 52-29 edge in rebounding and IWU had a 16-15 advantage on the offensive glass.
Gabrielle Holness led Illinois Wesleyan with 12 points. Alina Lehocky and Rebekah Ehresman each scored six points with six rebounds for the hosts.
