PICTURED ABOVE: Devin Kyler led the Thunder with 19 points on Friday.
Holland, Mich. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team returned to action on Friday night with a 69-59 victory against Rochester College (Mich.) in the opening game of Hope College's "Post Exam Jam". Wheaton improves to 5-3 overall and the Warriors fall to 8-5 on the 2017-18 season.
Devin Kyler led the Thunder with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field against Rochester, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. Kyler added four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Senior guard
Maggie Dansdill (PICTURED LEFT) scored 15 points, with five rebounds and five assists.
Hannah Frazier (PICTURED RIGHT) scored 11 points, with eight rebounds. Freshman
Hannah Williams tallied seven points, shooting 3-for-4 from the field.
Jordan Myroth scored six points, with four assists and two steals.
The shot 36.4% (24-of-66) from the field, including 21.1% (4-for-19) from three-point range. Rochester posted a 38.6% (22-for-57) field goal percentage, including 45% (9-for-20) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton tallied an 85% (17-of-20) free throw percentage and Rochester had a 60% (6-for-10) effort at the charity stripe. The Warriors out-rebounded Wheaton, 41-37 and the Thunder held a 14-12 edge on the offensive glass. Rochester committed 21 turnovers as Wheaton out-scored the Warriors 24-6 in points off turnovers.
Wheaton never trailed in tonight's matchup as the Thunder scored the first eight points, taking an 8-0 lead just 3:10 into the game. The Thunder led by as many as 12 points in the first quarter and held a nine-point edge of 20-11 at the end of the opening quarter. The Thunder led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter in a 30-17 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first half. Wheaton held a 35-27 lead at halftime.
Rochester opened the third quarter with an 8-2 scoring surge as the Warriors trimmed Wheaton's lead to 37-35 just 3:05 after the halftime break. Wheaton quickly countered with a 13-2 over a span of 5:10 to extend the Thunder lead to 50-37 with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter. Freshman
Hannah Williams scored seven of Wheaton's 13 points in the key run. The Thunder led the Warriors 51-39 at the conclusion of the third quarter. Wheaton maintained a solid lead throughout the fourth quarter to close out the game for the 69-59 victory.
Friday's second game featured Hope College versus Finlandia University. Due to a Hope College scheduling issue, Wheaton will take on Finlandia on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (EST) in the final game of the tournament – Saturday's only game.
