Dubuque, Iowa – The Thunder women's basketball team kicked off its Thanksgiving break on Tuesday night with a 67-59 victory over the Loras College Duhawks. Getting their first road test of the young season, Wheaton led by 10 late in the first half only to see the Duhawks come charging back early in the second half to retake the lead. Wheaton responded with a 7-2 run and never looked back in improving to 3-1 on the season. Loras falls to 3-2 with the loss.
 
Wheaton held the Duhawks to just 29% (20-69) shooting including a 17.9% (5-28) mark from the three-point line. Wheaton countered by shooting 37.9% (22-58) and 25.9% (7-27) from beyond the arc. Both teams were impressive at the free throw line with Wheaton making 16-of-19 attempts (84.2%) and Loras converting at an 87.5% (14-16) clip. Loras dominated the rebounding battle 49-37 including a 21-9 advantage in offensive boards.
 
The Duhawks surged early on, running off seven straight points to take a 9-4 lead at the midway point of the first quarter. A basket by Jordan Myroth and a Hannah Frazier three-pointer off a Myroth assist helped Wheaton to a 7-0 run that gave the Thunder possession of the lead with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Wheaton would score the final four points of the quarter to lead 15-11 after the first.
 
Another three-pointer by Frazier early in the second quarter jumpstarted a 13-4 run for the Thunder, taking an 11-point lead on Jane Ortlip's lay-up with 4:14 left in the first half.  Loras would keep the lead at no more than 11 throughout the stretch run of the first half and was able to take some momentum to the locker room when Riley Eckhart's three-pointer at the buzzer cut Wheaton's halftime lead to 34-27.
 
An early jumper by Hannah Williams pushed Wheaton's lead back to nine before Loras came roaring back with an 11-0 run over the following three minutes to retake the lead at 38-36. Following a Wheaton timeout, Frazier stopped the run with her fourth three-pointer of the night, putting Wheaton ahead 39-38. Baskets by Myroth and Devin Kyler pushed the lead back to six where Wheaton would stand at the end of the quarter, leading 48-42.
 
The fourth quarter saw early back and forth action with Wheaton pushing the lead to nine points on a Devin Kyler three-point play to start the quarter before the Duhawks battled back to cut the lead to four minutes later. The two teams traded baskets through the middle of the quarter until a Kristi Demski lay-up with 3:32 to play pushed the lead to seven points at 59-52. Loras would climb back to within four with just over a minute to play but Wheaton iced the game in the final seconds at the free throw line led by Hanna Williams who hit four in the final 26 seconds to push Wheaton's final margin of victory to 67-59.

Hannah Williams led all scorers with 18 points including a perfect 10-of-10 performance at the free throw line. Jordan Myroth added a season-high 13 points with nine rebounds and was joined in double figures by Hannah Frazier with 12 points and Kristi Demski with 11 points.

Wheaton will be back in action on Wednesday, November 28, when the Thunder travel to Chicago to take on the seventh-ranked Maroons of the University of Chicago for a 7 pm tip-off.