PICTURED ABOVE: Hannah Considine (LEFT) led the Thunder with 15 points, Katie McDaniels (MIDDLE) added 14 points and Ellie Zeller (RIGHT) contributed 13 points.

Orange, Calif. – The Thunder women's basketball team returned to action on Friday night with a 77-61 victory at Chapman University. Wheaton, ranked 10^th in this week's WBCA Division III Top-25 poll and 12^th in the D3hoops.com Top-25, improves to 4-1 on the season. The Thunder will conclude its two-game trip to Southern California on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. against Pomona-Pitzer.

Wheaton held a narrow 28-25 lead at halftime. The contest was tied 31-31 with 4:55 left in the third quarter when Wheaton's Kelly Lawson made a basket that started a 7-0 run for the Thunder that extended Wheaton's lead to 38-31 with 3:45 left in the third quarter. The Thunder held a 45-38 lead at the end of the quarter.

The guests held a 57-52 lead with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter when Thunder senior Hannah Considine made a field goal to spark an 11-4 run for the Thunder that increased Wheaton's lead to 69-57 with 50-seconds left in the fourth quarter. Wheaton out-scored the Panthers 32-23 in the fourth quarter to earn the road win.

Considine proved dominant in the decisive fourth quarter as she scored all of her team-high 15 points in the final quarter of the game, also blocking two shots. Considine and Katie McDaniels each grabbed six rebounds to lead the Thunder on the boards tonight. McDaniels added 14 points, with four assists, two blocked shots and three steals. Ellie Zeller scored 13 points and senior forward Sarah Drury (PICTURED LEFT) added eight points off the Thunder bench. Lawson (PICTURED RIGHT) and Devin Kyler each scored second points and Lawson added four assists.

Megan Charles scored 15 points for Chapman. Lauren Sato and Wendy Shiga each tallied 10 points. Katelyn Serizawa led the Panthers with four assists and Elizabeth Smith-Carp grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Wheaton shot a 51% (25-for-49) from the field, including 28.6% (2-for-7) from three-point range and posted a 78.1% (25-of-32) free throw percentage. Chapman posted a 27.9% (19-for-68) field goal percentage, with 11.1% (2-for-18) behind the three-point arc and the Panthers had a 70% (21-for-30) effort at the charity stripe. Chapman held a 41-40 advantage in rebounding, including a decisive 20-7 edge on the offensive glass.