Waukesha, Wis. - An impressive second half performance propelled the Thunder women's basketball team to a 76-59 victory at Carroll on Wednesday night. Tied at 30 at halftime, the Thunder held Carroll to just nine points in the third quarter to improve to 15-4 overall and 9-1 in the CCIW. Carroll falls to 7-12 and 2-8 in conference play. Wheaton will continue its Wisconsin tour on Saturday when the Thunder head to Kenosha to take on Carthage at 5 pm.
Wheaton started hot, racing out to a 13-4 lead on
Hannah Frazier's free throw with 3:14 to play in the first quarter. A pair of Carroll free throws with just under two minutes left in the quarter, snapped a scoreless streak of five and a half minutes, and launched a seven-point Pioneer surge that pulled the hosts back to within 13-11 on Gabby Atkins' three-pointer at the buzzer. Wheaton was able to keep its lead steady in the early minutes of the second quarter and pushed it to six at 22-16 on a
Hannah Williams lay-up with 6:56 to play in the half. Carroll was able to stay within striking distance and pulled even at 28 and once again at 30 when Alyssa Cruz beat the buzzer with a jumper.
A 7-0 Thunder run through the middle of the third quarter helped the visitors take control of the game. Wheaton held the Pioneers off the scoreboard for a stretch of four minutes while building a 43-34 advantage. Carroll worked the lead back to six points but consecutive baskets by Frazier gave Wheaton a 49-39 lead at the end of the stanza.
Hannah Williams took over the Thunder to start the fourth quarter, scoring Wheaton's first nine points of the frame. Consecutive three-pointers by
Kirsten Madsen followed and gave Wheaton its largest lead of the night at 64-45 with just over five minutes to play. Wheaton would match its 19-point advantage in the closing minutes following two free throws by Frazier as the Thunder closed out the 76-59 victory.
After struggling from field in the first half, Wheaton's offense turned it up in the second half, shooting 57.7% (15-26) from the field after hitting at 33.3% (12-36) in the first half. Wheaton finished shooting 36.8% (7-19) from the three-point line behind a four-of-seven second half performance. Wheaton was solid in both halves at the free throw line, making 15-of-18 attempts to finish at 83.3%. Carroll shot 38.7% (24-82) from the field and 30% (6-20) from beyond the arc while making five-of eight attempts at the free throw line. After struggling on the glass in recent games, Wheaton handily outrebounded the Pioneers 49-24.
Hannah Frazier led all scorers with a 26-point, 14-rebound double-double performance.
Hannah Williams nearly matched her point total, finishing with 25 points and five assists.
Kirsten Madsen finished with eight points and
Kristi Demski added seven.
Devin Kyler and
Jill Berg each grabbed nine rebounds with Kyler adding a game-high five blocks. Sierra Grubor and Alyssa Cruz each finished with 12 points to lead the Pioneers.
