Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team posted a statement win on Saturday night in a key CCIW battle against North Park. Rolling from the beginning, the Thunder never let up in handing the Vikings their first CCIW loss of the season with an 87-56 victory. Wheaton improves to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in CCIW play with the win, while knocking the Vikings to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in conference action.

Wheaton jumped out to a quick lead in the opening minutes of the game, leading 13-4 behind six early points from Hannah Frazier. Another Frazier lay-up later in the quarter would push Wheaton's lead to 22-9 before the Vikings answered with five straight points, forcing a Wheaton timeout. The two teams would trade runs to close the quarter, with the Thunder owning a 30-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
A three-point play by Devin Kyler opened another Thunder run, with Wheaton outscoring the Vikings 16-4 over the first seven minutes of the second quarter. Kyler and Maggie Dansdill combined to score the first 14 points of the run with nine coming from Kyler. Wheaton was able to extend its lead to as many as 25 points in the second quarter, holding the Vikings scoreless for a streak of more than seven and a half minutes while scoring 12 unanswered points en route to a 49-25 halftime advantage.
 
The second half played out much like the first, with Wheaton putting the game out of reach in the third quarter by building a 36-point lead and cruising down the stretch to an 87-56 victory.

Wheaton shot better than 60% from the field in two of the four quarters, finishing at 53.1% (34-64) from the field in the game despite making just five of 17 (29.4%) three-point attempts. The Vikings were held below their season averages, shooting just 27.9% (17-61) from the field and 33.3% (4-12) from the three-point line. North Park shot an impressive 81.8% (18-22) from the charity stripe while Wheaton was just 14-21 (66.7%). Wheaton outrebounded the Vikings 46-34.

Hannah Frazier led the Thunder with 16 points and Devin Kyler posted her second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists and four steals. Kelly Lawson and Maggie Dansdill each had nine points and Jordan Myroth, Hannah Williams and Erica Van Dusen all finished with eight points in a balanced scoring effort.

Wheaton will next be in action on Wednesday night, January 10, when the Thunder host the Augustana Vikings at 7 pm.