PICTURED ABOVE: Hannah Considine (LEFT) led the Thunder with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Chantal Meacham contributed nine points with five rebounds.

Wheaton, Ill. - Hope College came out on top of Wheaton College tonight in a battle of nationally ranked Division III women's basketball programs in Wheaton's King Arena. The 11^th-ranked Flying Dutch topped eighth-ranked Wheaton 68-49 as Hope out-scored the Thunder 37-19 in the second half.

Hope scored the first nine points tonight over a span of just three minutes and 15 seconds to jump out to a 9-0 lead. The Flying Dutch led 13-6 with 3:10 left in the first quarter, however, the Thunder closed out the quarter with an 8-1 run to tie the game at 14-14 at the conclusion of the quarter.

The second quarter was tightly contest with Wheaton leading for much of the period. Wheaton's largest lead of the quarter was a four-point advantage that occurred three times in the quarter. Wheaton led 30-28 with 55-seconds left in the quarter when Hope's Victoria Swift drained a three-pointer to give the guests a 31-30 lead. Hope maintained the 31-30 lead at the halftime intermission. The Flying Dutch never trailed for the remainder of the game.

Hope led 40-36 with 5:50 left in the third quarter when the guests put together a 12-2 run to increase the Flying Dutch lead to 58-30 with 2:05 left in the quarter. Hope maintained control of the game in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 21 points in the final period.

Senior Hannah Considine led the Thunder with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Katie McDaniels and Chantal Meacham each scored nine points as McDaniels added five assists. Freshman Devin Kyler grabbed seven rebounds.

Maura McAfee led Hope with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Angelique Gaddy scored 14 points with three assists. Mandy Traversa scored eight points in the contest.

The Thunder shot 25.4% (17-for-67) from the field, with 15.4% (2-of-13) from three-point range and Wheaton had a 72.2% (13-for-18) at the free throw line. Hope posted a 39.7% (23-for-58) effort from the floor, including a 45.5% (5-for-11) three-point field goal percentage and 60.7% (17-for-28) at the charity stripe. Hope out-rebounded Wheaton 50-43 and the Thunder owned an 18-15 edge on the offensive glass.

Wheaton will be off until a two-game trip to California in December. The Thunder will be at Chapman on December 4 and compete at Pomona-Pitzer on December 5.