Oshkosh, Wis. – The Thunder women's basketball team lost at UW-Oshkosh, 65-33 on Saturday night in a battle of nationally-ranked opponents. Wheaton (6-2) is ranked 17^th in this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 poll; and UW-Oshkosh (6-0) is 10^th in the same poll. Tonight's loss to the Titans snapped Wheaton's six-game win streak.

Senior guard Katie McDaniels led the Thunder with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. The All-American also grabbed five rebounds and added three assists. Kelly Thornton (PICTURED LEFT) scored nine points on three-of-three shooting from behind the three-point arc. Maggie Dansdill scored seven points and Jordan Myroth added six points for the guests. Devin Kyler accumulated a team-high seven rebounds for the Thunder and she scored five points in the game.

Alex Richard scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Titans. Taylor Schmidt tallied nine points for the hosts as Emma Melotik and Eilza Campbell each scored eight points.
The Titans built an early 12-5 lead in the first six minutes of the game, but Wheaton responded by closing out the first quarter with a 9-5 run as UW-Oshkosh led 17-14 at the conclusion of the opening quarter. The matchup remained tightly contested in the second quarter as the Titans led 33-29 at halftime.

The hosts used a strong third quarter to build a lead. The Titans led 33-30 with 7:50 remaining in the third quarter when UW-Oshkosh used an 11-4 surge to expand its lead to 44-34 with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter. That surge allowed the Titans to own a 50-41 lead at the conclusion of the quarter. The hosts out-scored Wheaton 10-2 in the first 4:30 of the fourth quarter to stretch the Titans' lead to 60-43 with 5:30 remaining in the game as UW-Oshkosh emerged with the win.

The Thunder shot 38.3% (18-of-47) from the field, including 27.8% (5-of-18) behind the three-point arc. The Titans registered a 38.5% (25-of-65) field goal percentage, including 23.1 (6-of-26) from three-point range. UW-Oshkosh out-rebounded the Thunder 42-31, including a 16-3 edge on the offensive glass for the hosts.

The Thunder will be off until the squad returns to action on December 29-30 at Whittier College's Purple & Gold Poet Classic. The Thunder will face UC-Santa Cruz in the tournament on December 29 and close out its participation in the tournament against Whitworth University on December 30.

Note Worthy: Thanks to three assists tonight, McDaniels' now has 392 career assists to move into third place on Wheaton's all-time assists list as she surpasses Sarah Clark's 391 career assists from 2000-04.