Chicago, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team had its four-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night in a 60-51 defeat at North Park University. With the loss, the Thunder fall to 15-5 on the season and 7-3 in the CCIW. North Park improves to 15-6 on the season and 6-4 in the conference. Wheaton will return home to King Arena on Saturday night for a 7 PM tipoff against the Elmhurst Bluejays.

Wheaton shot 33.3% (16-48) from the field despite shooting just 26.7% (4-15) from the three-point line. The Thunder shot 71.4% (15-21) on free throw attempts. The Vikings shot 36.7% (22-60) from the field but only 13.3% (2-15) from beyond the arc. The Vikings were 58.3% (14-24) at the charity stripe. North Park won the rebounding battle 43-34 including a lopsided 14-5 edge in offensive rebounds.

The visiting Thunder got off to a solid first quarter start using a 6-0 run at the midway point of the first quarter to open up a 13-6 lead on Jennifer Berg's lay-up. North Park would score the final three points of the quarter to bring the lead back to 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. Kelly Lawson's three-pointer on the opening possession of the second quarter pushed the lead back up to seven points before Wheaton would be held scoreless for the next six and a half minutes. During Wheaton's scoreless drought, North Park ran off 14 straight points to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point advantage. North Park would ride that edge to a 30-24 halftime lead.

North Park stretched the lead to a game-high 13 points by scoring the first four points of the second half to lead 37-24 before Wheaton finally dented the scoreboard three minutes into the third quarter. Wheaton used mounting foul trouble on the Vikings to get to the foul line late in the third quarter. Four straight free throws by Hannah Considine and a late lay-up by Katie McDaniels constituted a 6-0 Thunder run to make it 43-40 at the end of the third quarter.

Mel Bremhorst brought Wheaton even to start the fourth quarter with a three-pointer but the Vikings responded with four straight points. Two free throws by Kelly Lawson cut the lead to 47-45 with 6:26 to play before another scoring drought plagued the Thunder. Wheaton would be held scoreless for four and a half minutes while North Park stretched the lead back to eight points. Wheaton would cut the lead down to four on two Chantal Meacham free throws with 48 seconds left but the Vikings iced the game with three late free throws for the 60-51 victory.

Katie McDaniels led all scorers with 20 points. Kelly Lawson scored eight points and Mel Bremhorst added seven points and a game-high eight rebounds. Liz Rehberger led the Vikings with 18 points and Soly Roman contributed a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double effort.

Note Worthy: Katie McDaniels moved past Linda Carlson (1,024) and Lindsey Brenneman (1,037) into 17th place on Wheaton's career scoring list with 1,043 career points.