Kenosha, Wis. – The #16-ranked Wheaton women's basketball team rallied but fell short in overtime on Saturday in a 72-70 loss at Carthage College.
Wheaton has one regular season game left on the schedule, next Saturday when the Thunder hosts Augustana at 5:00 p.m. The Thunder own a 21-3 overall record and remain first in the CCIW standings with an 11-2 conference record. Wheaton secured outright possession of the 2015 CCIW Women's basketball championship as a result of a loss by second-place North Central (9-4 CCIW) this afternoon. Wheaton will host the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on Feb. 27-28 with the Thunder entertaining North Central, Carthage and Elmhurst.
The conference title is Wheaton's first CCIW Championship in women's basketball since 2007 and the seventh league title in program history. Wheaton's seven CCIW Championship ranks second in league history behind only Millikin's 11 conference championships.
Katie McDaniels led the Thunder with 17 points, six assists and seven rebounds.
Ellie Zeller scored 15 points with six rebounds.
Chantal Meacham contributed 12 points, with two assists.
Hannah Considine scored 11 points, with eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Carthage closed out the first half with an 18-7 scoring edge to lead the Thunder 34-19 at halftime.
The Lady Reds led the Thunder 38-27 with 16:00 remaining in the second half when a layup by
Katie McDaniels sparked an 18-9 Thunder run to cut the Carthage lead to 47-45 with 9:25 left in regulation. The hosts held a 55-49 lead with 4:30 left in regulation when a three-pointer by
Chantal Meacham and layup by
Lauren Graham trimmed the Carthage lead to 55-54 with 3:50 left in regulation.
The contest was tied 59-59 in the final minute of the second half when a
Lauren Graham layup gave Wheaton a 61-59 lead with 54-seconds remaining in regulation. The advantage was Wheaton's first lead since the opening minutes of the first half. Hahn made two free throws with 31-seconds left in the game to tie the contest at 61-61. A Wheaton three-point attempt in the final seconds fell short as the contest went into overtime.
Considine made a pair of free throws to give the Thunder a 63-61 in the opening minute of overtime. An Erin Quinn layup tied the game at 63-63, however, Graham countered with a layup to give the Thunder 65-63 lead with 2:35 left in overtime. A three-pointer by Carthage's Morgan Harris broke a tie and gave the Lady Reds a 68-65 lead with 1:32 left in OT. Carthage was 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the final 30-seconds of overtime to hang on for the win.
The Thunder posted a 36.2% (25-for-69) field goal percentage, with 33.3% (7-of-21) from three-point range and 92.9% (13-for-14) at the free throw line. Carthage shot 51% (26-of-51) from the field, including 60% (6-for-10) from three-point range and the Lady Reds posted a 73.7% (14-of-19) free throw percentage. Wheaton out-rebounded the Lady Reds 43-29, including a dominating 21-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Alexis Hahn led Carthage with a game-high 24 points. Taylor Boardman scored 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Kasey Kleiner tallied nine points with five assists and Morgan Harris scored eight points. Erin Quinn scored six points and distributed a game-high eight assists.
