PICTURED ABOVE: Kelly Lawson led the Thunder with a career-high 15 points in Wheaton's 61-57 victory at Millikin.

Decatur, Ill. - A strong fourth quarter propelled the Thunder women's basketball team to a 61-57 victory at Millikin on Wednesday night. Ranked #24 in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, Wheaton outscored the Big Blue 18-9 in the final stanza to improve to 12-4 on the season and 4-2 in conference play. Millikin falls to 6-10 on the season and 0-6 in the CCIW. Wheaton wraps up the first half of conference play on Saturday night when the Thunder host Carthage College at 5 PM.

Wheaton shot 39.7% (23-58) from the field in the victory, including a 33.3% (8-24) showing from the three-point arc. The guests struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 53.8% (7-13). Millikin shot 35.7% (20-56) from the field with a similar 31.3% (5-16) from the three-point line. The Big Blue thrived at the charity stripe, making 12-of-14 attempts for an 85.7% clip. Millikin dominated the rebounding battled 44-30 including a 12-7 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton forced 21 Millikin turnovers while committing just 13 of its own.

The first quarter was a tightly contested one, with neither team being able to get separation from the other. A Devin Kyler three-pointer with 6:15 left in the quarter gave Wheaton an 11-8 lead to provide the Thunder with its biggest lead of the quarter. An 11-4 run by the Big Blue provided Millikin a four-point lead with just over a minute to play but a late lay-up by NatalieRose Brogan cut the lead down to 19-17 at the end of the first quarter.

A Chantal Meacham three-pointer and a jumper by Katie McDaniels  (PICTURED RIGHT) gave Wheaton the lead again at 24-23 three minutes into the second quarter but Millikin responded with a 9-1 run to take its biggest lead of the half at 32-25 with three minutes to play. A Brogan three-pointer and Jennifer Berg jumper cut the lead to 32-30 but four straight Millikin points in the final minute gave the hosts a 36-30 halftime edge.

Five straight Millikin points early in the third quarter ballooned the Big Blue lead to a game-high 11 points at 43-32 with 6:42 to play in the third before Wheaton started chipping away at the lead. A Berg three-pointer jump-started a 9-0 Thunder run as Wheaton held the Big Blue scorless for over minutes to bring the score back to 43-41 on a Hannah Considine lay-up. Millikin would answer back with five unanswered points but two free throws by Kelly Lawson made it 48-43 at the end of the quarter.

Another Meacham three-pointer and back-to-back jumpers by Lawson pushed Wheaton back into the lead at 50-48 as the Thunder held Millikin scoreless for the first four minutes and 33 seconds of the fourth quarter. After a Millikin basket tied things at 50, McDaniels gave Wheaton a 52-50 lead with a jumper and Lawson followed with a three-pointer. A three-point play by Considine with 43 seconds left put the game out of reach at 60-52 before a couple of late Millikin baskets cut the final score down to 61-57.

Kelly Lawson led the Thunder with a career-high 15 points to go with five rebounds and three steals. Katie McDaniels scored 14 points with seven assists and six rebounds. Jennifer Berg added nine points off the bench. Emily Schultz led the Big Blue with a game-high 19 points. Alyssa Saklak added nine points and game-high 11 rebounds.

Wheaton will finish the first half of CCIW action on Saturday night when the Thunder host Carthage College for a 5 PM tipoff at King Arena.

Note Worthy: With her 14 points tonight, Katie McDaniels moved past Amie Karkainen (1997, 1999-2002) into 20th place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list with 957 career points...McDaniels also moved past Lisa Roder (1982-85) into seventh place wtih 295 career assists...with her four rebounds tonight, Hannah Considine moved past Karla Groen (1985-89) into 14th place on Wheaton's career rebounding list with 533 career boards.