PICTURED ABOVE: Ellie Zeller led the Thunder wtih 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.

Bloomington, Ill. – The Thunder women's basketball team, ranked 23^rd in the most recent D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, lost a 66-65 decision at Illinois Wesleyan (8-5, 3-1 CCIW). Amanda Kelly of IWU drained a three-pointer with 26-seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to put the hosts up for good. Wheaton is now 9-2 on the year and 3-1 in CCIW play.

Ellie Zeller led the Thunder with 19 points off the Thunder bench on 8-of-11 shooting from the field tonight. Kelly Lawson (PICTURED LEFT) scored 13 points for the guests. Senior Chantal Meacham scored seven points with seven rebounds and six assists. Devin Kyler tallied six points with seven rebounds. Jordan Myroth led the Thunder on the glass with eight rebounds, Katie McDaniels gathered six rebounds and Mel Bremhorst had five boards.

The Titans led the Thunder 16-12 at the end of the first quarter and the hosts held a 25-22 edge at the halftime intermission. The hosts extended the lead to five points at 49-44 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
 
The Titans led by nine at 55-46 with 7:40 remaining in regulation when a layup by Myroth sparked an 18-4 run for the Thunder as Wheaton gained a 64-59 lead with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter. Zeller scored eight of Wheaton's 18 points in the run and Chantal Meacham and Mel Bremhorst each contributed a three-pointer in the run.

Illinois Wesleyan's Maddie Merrit tallied a basket with 1:32 left in the game and the Titans' Molly McGraw made two free throws to trim the Thunder lead to 64-63 with 42-seconds left in the fourth quarter. Meacham made one of two free throw attempts with 36-seconds left to improve the Thunder lead to 65-63. Kelly drained a three-pointer on the Titans' ensuing trip down court to give the hosts the 66-65 lead.  Wheaton turned the ball over on its next trip down the court and IWU missed a pair of free throw attempts. Wheaton's three-point shot attempt in the final second was no good as IWU handed Wheaton's its first CCIW loss of 2016-17.

Wheaton shot 42.1% (24-of-57) from the field, including 33.3% (7-of-21) behind the three-point arc. The Titans posted a 33.3% (22-of-66) field goal percentage, including 18.2% (2-of-11) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 52.6% (10-of-19) at the free throw line and the Titans had an 80% (20-of-25) effort at the charity stripe.

Wheaton out-rebounded the Titans 43-40. The Titans had a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass as the hosts out-scored Wheaton 17-6 in second-chance points.
 
McGraw led the TItans with 23 points and three assists. Merrit scored 21 points with seven rebounds. Rebekah Ehresman grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.