PICTURED ABOVE: Jennifer Berg set career highs with 16 points and 10 rebounds in Wheaton's 78-67 win over North Central.

Wheaton, Ill. - The #17-ranked Thunder women's basketball team used a strong second half effort to hold off North Central 78-67 on Saturday night at King Arena. The victory for Wheaton is its 14th consecutive win over the Cardinals and the 12th straight under head coach Kent Madsen. With the victory, Wheaton improves to 10-3 on the season and 2-1 in CCIW play. North Central fall to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Wheaton will next be in action on Wednesday night when the Thunder host North Park at 7 PM.

A fast-paced first quarter led the Thunder to jump out to a quick 19-9 lead before the Cardinals come firing back and closed the gap down to two points. Two Katie McDaniels free throws following a foul as time expired provided the hosts with a 28-22 edge at the end of the first quarter. 

Second quarter fouls slowed the pace of the game and opened the door for the Cardinals to inch back into the game. A Hannah Considine (PICTURED RIGHT) lay-up with 8:25 left in the half gave Wheaton its biggest lead of the quarter at 33-24 before the Cardinals closed the gap with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 37 with 3:46 left. The Cardinals briefly took their first lead of the game with a free throw to make it 40-39 but jumpers by Jennifer Berg and Maggie Dansdill staked Wheaton to a 43-40 lead before the Cardinals tied the score with a three-pointer in the closing seconds.

A sluggish and sloppy tone overtook the third quarter in the opening minutes as the game remained tight. A Berg free throw with 4:38 left in the half gave Wheaton a lead it would not relinquish at 49-48 and sparked a five-point Thunder run to give the hosts some breathing room. A late three-pointer by NatalieRose Brogan pushed the lead to 60-53 as the third quarter came to a close.

The opening minutes of the final stanza mirrored the sloppy play of the third quarter as the Cardinals closed the Thunder lead down to 62-60 before a Chantal Meacham three-pointer with 6:22 to play pushed the lead back to 65-60. Considine and Devin Kyler followed with buckets to give Wheaton a 69-60 lead. A late Berg three-pointer pushed the lead into double digits for good and a lay-up by Sarah Drury gave Wheaton its largest lead of the game at 78-66 before a North Central free throw accounted for the 78-67 final.

Jennifer Berg led the Thunder with 16 points and recorded her first career double-double with 10 rebounds. Hannah Considine also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. NatalieRose Brogan (PICTURED LEFT) scored 10 points to go with five rebounds. Katie McDaniels and Maggie Dansdill each added nien points with McDaniels dishing out a game-high seven assists. Jamie Cuny led the Cardinals with 11 points and five blocks.

Wheaton shot 36.7% (29-79) from the field and made 33.3% (7-21) from the three-point line. The Thunder struggled from the charity stripe, shooting just 56.5% (13-23). The Cardinals were head to 27.8% (22-79) from the field and 22.2% (8-36) from the three-point line. The visitors also struggled on free throws, making just 57.7% (15-26) of its attempts.

Wheaton will next be in action on Wednesday night when the Thunder host North Park (11-3, 3-0 CCIW) at 7 PM at King Arena.