PICTURED ABOVE: Katie McDaniels (LEFT) led the Thunder with 16 points and Kelly Lawson (RIGHT) contributed 11 points for the Thunder on Saturday night.

Rock Island, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team traveled to Augustana College for the CCIW opener for both squads on Saturday evening. The Thunder dropped a 59-56 decision as the Vikings rallied late in the game thanks to a 22-8 scoring edge in the fourth quarter to give the hosts the win.

Wheaton scored the first five points tonight and led the Vikings 13-2 through the first 7:30 of the game as the Thunder led 18-7 at the end of the first quarter. Augustana's offense came alive in the second quarter as the hosts trimmed Wheaton's lead to 29-20 at the halftime intermission.

Wheaton maintained its lead throughout the third quarter as Hannah Considine and Katie McDaniels combined to score 10 of Wheaton's 19 third-quarter points. The Thunder led the Vikings by 11 points at the end of the third quarter with a 48-37 advantage.

Wheaton's Sarah Drury scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to increase Wheaton's lead to 50-37. Augustana's Victoria Allen followed with a three-pointer and McDaniels countered with a basket that made the score 52-40 in favor of Wheaton with 8:15 remaining in regulation. A pair of baskets by Augustana's Marissa Pezzopane sparked a 14-2 Vikings run to tie the game at 54-54 with 2:15 left in the game. Thunder sophomore Jennifer Berg scored Wheaton's final points of the game when she made a jumper with 1:59 remaining in the matchup to give the guests a 56-54 lead.

Augustana's Olivia Mayer made the first of two free throws to trim Wheaton's lead to 56-55 with 1:40 remaining in regulation. The Thunder missed a field goal attempt on its next possession and the rebound was collected by the Vikings' Izzy Anderson who drove to the basket for a field goal to give Augustana its first lead of the game at 57-56 with 50-seconds remaining in regulation. Wheaton missed a field goal attempt that would have given the Thunder the lead with 26-seconds remaining in the game and the rebound was collected by Anderson who made a pair of free throws to increase Augustana's lead to 59-56 with 19-seconds remaining in the matchup. Both teams missed a pair of free throws on their next possessions, allowing Wheaton a final opportunity to tie the game, but a missed three-point attempt for the Thunder as time expired secured the 59-56 come-from-behind win for the Vikings.

McDaniels led Wheaton with 16 points, three assists and four rebounds. Kelly Lawson scored 11 points for the Thunder and she added nine rebounds with two blocked shots and two steals. Considine shot 4-for-6 from the field to scored eight points with nine rebounds. The senior also blocked two shots with two steals. Freshman Devin Kyler (PICTURED LEFT) scored five points, with seven rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and two steals.

Pezzopane led the Vikings with 14 points and she added three steals. Allen scored 12 points for the hosts and Anderson added seven points. Andrea McNally and Carly McCameron led the Vikings with six rebounds each.

Wheaton posted a 32.9% (23-for-70) field goal percentage in the game, including 11.1% (2-of-18) from three-point range. Augustana shot 36.8% (21-of-57) from the field in the game, including 48.3% (14-of-29) in the second half. Wheaton shot 72.7% (8-for-11) at the free throw line and the Vikings had a 61.1% (11-of-18) effort at the charity stripe. The Thunder held a 49-39 advantage in rebounding tonight, including a 16-7 edge on the offensive glass.

Wheaton, ranked eighth in Division III in the most recent D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, is now 8-3 on the year and opens conference play with a 0-1 CCIW record. The Thunder will host Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. in King Arena. Augustana improves to 6-6 on the year and is 1-0 in conference play.