Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team held off a furious fourth quarter rally to post an 81-72 victory over Hanover College in the Beth Baker Classic Championship game on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton saw its healthy lead cut down to as few as six points down the stretch but was able to finish the game off by extending its lead to improve to 2-1 with the victory while the Panthers fall to 1-1 with the loss. Hannah Frazier and Hannah Williams were named to the All-Tournament with Williams picking up Tournament MVP honors

Wheaton shot an impressive 52.5% (31-59) from the field including a 39.1% (9-23) clip from beyond the arc. Hanover was 31.9% (22-69) from the field despite hitting 45% (9-20) of its three-point attempts. The Panthers made all 19 free throw attempts while Wheaton struggled at the charity stripe, making just 45% (10-22) of its free throw attempts. Hanover outrebounded the Thunder 40-38 including 15 offensive rebounds. Wheaton set a new tournament record by blocking 16 shots led by Hannah Frazier's six blocks.

Hanover came charging out of the gates, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to turn a tie at 10 into a 19-13 lead. Wheaton would counter by scoring the final six points of the quarter to tie the game at 19 after 10 minutes.

The second quarter proved to be a game of runs with Wheaton scoring the first five points of the quarter and Hanover answering with the next five. Finally a three-point play by Jill Berg gave Wheaton its final lead and started a 10-2 Thunder run including five points by Hannah Williams. Hannah Frazier's three-pointer in the final minute of the quarter pushed Wheaton's lead into double digits for the first time as Wheaton took a 40-30 lead into the halftime break.

Wheaton continued its run to open the third quarter with Jennifer Berg hitting a three-pointer and Frazier hitting a turnaround jumper to push the lead to 15 at 45-30. Hanover cut the lead down to 11 at the midway point of the quarter but Wheaton answered with a 12-0 run to push the lead to 23. A jumper by Alexis Nall in the closing seconds of the quarter ended a scoreless drought of nearly five minutes and closed the gap to 64-42.

The Panthers caught fire from the three-point line early in the fourth quarter, knocking down their first five three-point attempts of the quarter and using an extended 26-10 run to cut Wheaton's lead down to 74-68 with 2:27 to play. A lay-up and a jumper by Williams sandwiched a free throw by Devin Kyler as Wheaton used a 5-0 run to push the lead back to double figures in the final minute and salt away the 81-72 victory.

Hannah Frazier led the Thunder with 17 points to go with a team-high six blocks and five rebounds. Hannah Williams scored 16 points, Devin Kyler finished with 11 points and Kristi Demski tallied 10 points. Jill Berg grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points, five assists and four blocks. Alexis Nall of Hanover led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed rebounds. Maleha Motter earned All-Tournament honors with a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double performance.

Wheaton will next be in action on Tuesday, November 20, when the Thunder travel to Dubuque, Iowa for a 6 pm tip-off at Loras College.