PICTURED ABOVE: Devin Kyler narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks in #17-Wheaton's 90-85 win over North Central.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team earned it sixth-consecutive victory on Wednesday night with a tightly contested 90-85 victory over North Central in King Arena. Trailing by two at halftime, Wheaton scored the first eight points of the second half and didn't trail again. The Thunder improve to 6-1 overall with the victory and 2-0 in CCIW play. North Central falls to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in conference action. Wheaton will play its last game before the upcoming Christmas break on Saturday when the Thunder travel to UW-Oshkosh for a Top-25 showdown with the tenth-ranked and undefeated Titans. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 PM.

Against North Central's frenetic style of play, Wheaton owned a 67-50 advantage in rebounds while shooting 43.6% (34-78) from the field. Wheaton struggled from the three-point line, making just two of its 15 attempts (13.3%). The Thunder shot 60.6% (20-33) from the free throw line. North Central carded a 33.3% (32-96) shooting clip and shot just 11-44 (25%) from the three-point line. The Cardinals made 10-of-18 free throw attempts to shoot 55.6%.

North Central led early in the game as late as a 9-8 advantage but a Kelly Thornton three-pointer opened up an 8-0 Wheaton run in the middle of the first quarter. Wheaton would later tally a 9-0 run to push the score to their biggest lead of the night at 30-17. A late three-pointer for the Cardinals cut the lead down to 30-20 after the first quarter and jump-started an 11-0 Cardinal run that saw the Thunder held scoreless for the first four minutes of the second quarter. Holding off the Cardinal charge, Wheaton finall relinquished the lead on a North Central three-pointer with 3:36 left in the first half. Wheaton answered with a 7-0 run but the Cardinals would close the half on a 7-0 run of their own to lead 46-44 at halftime.

Kelly Lawson took over the action at the start of the third quarter, scoring six of Wheaton's eight points in an 8-0 run. North Central was able to cut the Thunder lead down to one-point at 54-53 with a lay-up by Jordan Myroth's lay-up started a 10-2 Thunder to extend the lead back to nine points. The Cardinals tallied two late lay-ups to cut Wheaton's lead to 64-59 at the end of the third quarter.

Wheaton looked like they would pull away early in the fourth quarter when lay-ups by Chantal Meacham and Kelly Lawson pushed the lead into double digits at 76-65 with 6:48 to play. The Cardinals responded with a 13-2 run to get back to within one possession with 4:46 to play at 78-75. The lead would dwindle to as few as two points on a Paula Zerante three-pointer with 1:10 to play and the Cardinals had a shot to tie the game but a Kelly Lawson lay-up made it 87-83 with 41 second to play. Mayson Whipple answered with a lay-up with 22 seconds left but two free throws by Katie McDaniels (PICTURED RIGHT) and a Maggie Dansdill charity toss was enough to ice the 90-85 victory.

Katie McDaniels posted her second-highest point total in her career, scoring 35 points to go with a career-high 11 rebounds. In the fourth quarter, McDaniels moved by Rachel Horgen for fourth place on Wheaton's all-time career scoring list with 1,366 points. Earlier this season, McDaniels posted a career-high with 38 points in Wheaton's season-opening loss at Hope. Devin Kyler posted 12 points to go with career highs in rebounds (15), assists (8) and blocks (5). Kelly Lawson chipped in 16 points and Kelly Thornton added 11 points. Jamie Cuny led the Cardinals with a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double performance.

Wheaton will travel to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on Saturday to face the #10-ranked Titans for a 5 PM tipoff.