PICTURED ABOVE: Devin Kyler scored a game-high 22 points in Wheaton's 76-62 win over Macalester on Friday.

Wheaton, Ill. - A strong defensive second half helped the Thunder women's basketball team pull away in the fourth quarter for a 76-62 victory over Macalester on Friday afternoon in the Beth Baker Classic. With the victory, Wheaton advances to Saturday's Beth Baker Classic Championship game against Hanover College at 3 pm. Hanover advanced with a 69-64 win over Buena Vista. The victory evens Wheaton's record at 1-1 while the Scots fall to 0-3.

Wheaton's post advantage led the Thunder to a quick start with lay-ups from Jordan Myroth, Devin Kyler and Hannah Frazier posting Wheaton to a 6-0 lead. Macalester countered from the three-point line, hitting four of its six three-point attempts in the first quarter to rally for a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The hot shooting continued for the Scots early in the second quarter, with jumpers staking Macalester to a game-high eight-point lead on a pair of occasions. A 9-1 Thunder capped by a Kyler lay-up knotted the score at 25 as Wheaton held the Scots without a field goal for nearly four minutes. Wheaton would close the half on a 6-0 run to take a 35-31 lead at halftime.
 
Three-point shooting continued to keep the Scots close through the third quarter, bringing Macalester to within three points at 49-46 with just over a minute left in the quarter. A three-point play by Jennifer Berg and a three-pointer by Kristi Demski in the closing seconds pulled Wheaton clear of the Scots at 55-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Wheaton's defense took control of the game in the early minutes of the fourth quarter with Devin Kyler piling up four blocks and a steal in the opening four minutes of the quarter. On the other end, six points from Frazier and a three by Hannah Williams (PICTURED RIGHT) helped Wheaton extend the lead to its largest of the game at 68-48 at the midway point of the quarter. Kyler's three-pointer moments later pushed Wheaton's lead to its highwater mark at 21 points and capped Kyler's night with a game-high 22 points to go with nine rebounds, three blocks, three steals and three assists.
 
Hannah Frazier joined Kyler in double figures with 16 points and eight rebounds. Hannah Williams finished with 15 points and Kristi Demski tallied 11 points. Justine Barraza led the Scots with 12 points.

Wheaton finished the game shooting 43.3% (29-67) from the field despite shooting just nine-of-34 (26.5%) from the three-point line. Wheaton made all nine of its free throw attempts. Macalester shot an impressive 64.3% (9-14) from the three-point line to finish at 40% (22-55) from the field. Wheaton won the battle on the glass 41-32 including a 15-10 edge in offensive rebounds. Wheaton also tallied 11 blocks with 12 steals.