PICTURED ABOVE: Katie McDaniels scored a game-high 19 points with seven assists in #17-Wheaton's 72-66 win over Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team returned to King Arena for its first home game in 43 days and celebrated the occasion with a 72-66 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the CCIW home opener fo the Thunder. Ranked #17 in the latest D3hoops.com and WBCA polls, the Thunder used a very efficient night performance from the free throw line to put away a pesky Titans team. With the victory, Wheaton snaps a two-game losing skid and improves to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in CCIW play. Illinois Wesleyan falls to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in conference action. Wheaton will host North Central on Saturday night at 5 PM.

Hannah Considine (PICTURED RIGHT) led the Thunder to a quick start on Wednesday night by scoring Wheaton's first eight points and pushing the hosts to an 8-4 lead midway through the first quarter. Wheaton stretched the lead to 12-4 on a pair of Chantal Meacham free throws but a quick five-point spurt by the Titans tightened the score before another Considine lay-up and two free throws by Kelly Thornton gave Wheaton a 16-9 lead after the first quarter.

A jumper by Sarah Drury to start the second quarter gave the Thunder its biggest lead of the night at nine points before the Titans started chipping away at the lead as fouls mounted on the Thunder front court. A Titan three-pointer with 5:22 left in the half cut the lead to 24-22 but NatalieRose Brogan answered with a three-pointer to boost the lead. A series of four free throws later in the quarter gave the Titans their first lead of the game at 30-29 with just under two minutes remaining in the half. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch to give the Titans a 32-31 halftime lead.

The lead never stretched to more than three points in any direction in a back-and-forth third quarter. Considine opened the half with an old-fashioned three-point play to retake the lead and a Mel Bremhorst three-pointer broke a 36-36 tie but the Titans would not go away and tied the game severa ltimes before taking a 46-44 lead with 2:37 left in the quarter. A Drury lay-up with 1:18 left in the third quarter gave Wheaton a 50-48 lead that would be cut down to 50-49 heading into the final quarter.

Wheaton opened the quarter on a 7-1 run that forced the Titans to spend a timeout after Chantal Meacham's three-pointer made it 57-50 with 8:19 to play. Once again, Illinois Wesleyan widdled the lead back to two points with a 5-0 run with 3:28 to play but consecutive lay-ups by Drury (PICTURED LEFT) and a free throw by McDaniels gave Wheaton some breathing room at 66-59 with 1:19 to play. McDaniels was able to ice the game from the free throw by making seven consecutive free throws in the final 79 seconds to secure the 72-66 victory.

Katie McDaniels led all scorers with 19 points and a game-high seven assists. Hannah Considine finished with 13 points and four rebounds and Sarah Drury scored 12 points with a team-high nine rebounds. Gabby Weber and Molly McGraw led the Titans with 12 points each and Rebekah Ehresman grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Wheaton shot 38.8% (26-67) from the field and struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on only three-of 12 (25%) three-point attempts. Wheaton shot 89.5% (17-19) from the foul line. Illinois Wesleyan shot 42.3% (22-52) from the field but was held to 23.5% (4-17) from the three-point line. The Titans made 18-of-24 (75%) from the charity stripe.

Wheaton will next be in action on Saturday when the Thunder host North Central at 5 PM in a rematch of last season's CCIW Tournament Championship.

Note Worthy: With her first two made free throws of the night Katie McDaniels moved past Kathleen Fidelia into second place in program history with 325 career made free throws.