PICTURED ABOVE: Mel Bremhorst scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Wheaton's 70-56 victory over Carthage on Saturday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team wrapped up the first half of its conference schedule on Saturday with a convincing 70-56 victory over Carthage. Wheaton, ranked #22 in the latest WBCA poll and 24th in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, improves to 13-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play. Carthage falls to 7-11 and 3-4 in the CCIW. Wheaton will start the second half of its conference schedule with a showdown in Bloomington against the CCIW-leading Titans of Illinois Wesleyan at 7 PM on Wednesday night.

Wheaton raced out to a quick start in the first half, shooting 53.3% (16-30) prior to halftime including a 45.5% (5-11) clip from beyond the arc. Wheaton would finish at 38.1% (24-63) from the field and 34.8% (8-23) from the three-point line. The Thunder shot 82.4% (14-17) from the free throw line with all 17 attempts coming in the second half. Carthage was held to 32.7% (16-49) from the field and 30.4% (7-23) from beyond the arc. The Lady Reds shot an impressive 85% (17-20) from the charity stripe. Wheaton outrebounded the Lady Reds 43-32 including a 15-7 edge in offensive boards. The Thunder forced 17 Carthage turnovers in the game while committing only 10.

Despite failing to score for the first two minutes, the Thunder raced out to a 12-1 lead after Chantal Meacham and Mel Bremhorst hit consecutive three-pointers. Wheaton should push the lead to 20-4 on a Katie McDaniels (PICTURED RIGHT) three-pointer before the Lady Reds found their footing and closed the gap to 26-16 at the end of the first.

The Lady Reds used a quick 7-0 run early in the second qurater to cut the Thunder lead down to nine points but a three-pointer by Kelly Lawson started a seven-point Thunder run to lead 35-19 with 3:54 left in the half. A Carthage three-pointer with a minute to play in the half pulled the Lady Reds within 37-24 at the intermission.

Carthage once again managed to score seven unanswered early in the third quarter to bring the lead down to nine points but six straight Thunder points led Wheaton on a 13-2 run to push the lead to a game-high 53-33 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was marred by fouls and free throws but Carthage was able to widdle the lead down to 10 at 66-56 with three minutes to play but would not score again as Wheaton coasted to the 70-56 victory. Wheaton was able to hold Carthage scoreless for the final three minutes of the game and held the Lady Reds without a field goal of rhte final 5:42 of the game.

Katie McDaniels led all scorers with 24 points including a perfect 9-for-9 performance from the free throw line. Kelly Lawson stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and steals. Mel Bremhorst sparked the Thunder off the bench with 12 points and nine rebounds and also added three assists. Chantal Meacham also chipped in 12 points with rebounds. Jennifer Berg led all players with a game-high 10 rebounds. Morgan Harris led the Lady Reds with 22 points.

Wheaton will return to action on Wednesday night, January 27, when the Thunder travel to Illinois Wesleyan for a 7 PM tipoff against the Titans at the Shirk Center.

Note Worthy: With her two three-pointers tonight, Chantal Meacham moved past Stacie Clark (1998-2002) into fourth place on Wheaton's career three-point list with 153 career three-pointers.