PICTURED ABOVE: Kelly Lawson scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Wheaton's 58-50 win over Loras on Tuesday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team recorded its third straight victory on Tuesday night with a hard fought 58-50 victory over the Loras Duhawks. With the victory, Wheaton improves to 3-1 overall while the Duhawks fall to 2-2 on the season. Wheaton will be off until November 30 when the Thunder travel to face University of Chicago at 6 PM.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball on Tuesday night with Wheaton shooting just 32.8% (19-58) overall but connecting on 35% (7-20) of their three-point attempts. The Thunder also struggled at the foul line, shooting just 59.1% (13-22). Loras was held to just 31% (22-71) from the field and only 20% (3-15) from beyond the arc. The Duhawks made all three of their free throw attempts.

Points were scarce in the first quarter with the Duhawks leading 9-7 after ten minutes after both teams went the first two-and-a-half minutes without a point. Midway through the second quarter, the Duhawks took their largest lead of the game at 18-12 before Wheaton rallied with an 11-2 run including eight straight points from Kelly Lawson. With the run, the Thunder jumped ahead to lead 23-22 at the halftime break.

Loras opened the second half on a six-point run while holding Wheaton off the scoreboard until a Katie McDaniels jumper over three minutes into the half. Loras continued to lead 32-28 at the midway point of the third quarter when a six-point spurt by the Thunder pushed them into the lead. Wheaton would trail by two in the final minute of the quarter when a jumper by Mel Bremhorst jumpstarted a 7-0 Wheaton run that ended with a Kelly Thornton three-pointer as the clock expired to give the Thunder a 42-37 lead at the end of the quarter.

Wheaton's defense dominated the early minutes of the fourth quarter, holding Loras scoreless for the first five minutes and 30 seconds of the quarter while Wheaton pushed the lead to 50-37. The Duhawks worked back within 50-43 but seven straight points from Lawson put the game out of reach as the Thunder finished off the 58-50 victory.

Kelly Lawson led all scorers with 24 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Katie McDaniels scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds. Devin Kyler grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Lori Obendorf led the Duhawks with a team-high 15 points. Cyerra Hutchins led all players with 11 rebounds.