PICTURED ABOVE: Katie McDaniels scored 35 points in Wheaton's 65-46 win over Cathage on Saturday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team used a dominant fourth quarter to put away a pesky Carthage team on Saturday night at King Arena. Wheaton held Carthage scoreless over a nine-minute stretch in the fourth quarter and used the 19-0 to cruise to a 65-46 victory over the Lady Reds. Wheaton wraps up the first half of the conference schedule atop the CCIW with a 13-3 overall record and a 7-1 record in conference play. Carthage falls to 8-8 overall and 3-5 in the conference. Wheaton will travel to IIT on Wednesday night in the final nonconference game of the regular season.

Wheaton shot 34.4% (21-61) from the field including 36.4% (8-22) from the three-point line. Wheaton was 15-18 (83.3%) from the free throw line. Carthage shot 31% (18-58) from the field and 32% (8-25) from the three-point line. The Lady Reds made two of their three free throw attempts. Wheaton forced 18 Carthage turnovers while committing only eight turnovers. Carthage won the rebounding battle 42-40.

Wheaton trailed early as the Lady Reds used a 9-0 first quarter run to take an 11-4 lead late with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. A pair of Katie McDaniels three-pointers served to pull Wheaton even at 11-11 at the end of the first quarter. Her second three-pointer was a deep three that beat the first quarter buzzer.

McDaniels continued her run to start the second quarter, eventually scoring 15 straight Wheaton points to pull the Thunder ahead at 20-19 with a steal and breakaway lay-up. A three-pointer by Kelly Lawson with four minutes left in the second quarter gave Wheaton its biggest lead of the half at 28-22. Lawson (PICTURED RIGHT) would hit a second three-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to stake the Thunder to a 34-28 halftime advantage.
 
Maggie Dansdill's lay-up to start the third quarter extended Wheaton's lead to eight before the Lady Reds started to chip away at the Thunder advantage. A three-point play by Mandy Hozzian finally pulled the Lady Reds even at 43-43 with 1:36 left in the quarter but McDaniels answered with a  three on the ensuing Thunder possession to put Wheaton ahead 46-43 after three quarters.
 
Carthage cut the Wheaton lead back to one with a bucket to open the fourth quarter which would serve as the last field goal of the game for the Lady Reds. Wheaton followed with a 19-0 run that saw the Thunder hold Carthage scoreless for over nine minutes before a free throw with just 29 seconds left cut the final tally to 62-46.

Katie McDaniels led all scorers with 35 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. The 35 points is the second-highest single game total of her career, trailing only her 38-point performance in Wheaton's season-opener at Hope in November. Kelly Lawson joined McDaniels in double figures with 10 points. Jill Berg led the Thunder with nine rebounds to go with three blocks. Madie Kaelber led the Lady Reds with 12 points.