PICTURED ABOVE: Hannah Williams led the Thunder with 21 points in Wheaton's 76-75 win over Millikin on Wednesday night.

Wheaton, Ill. - A wild finish and a poor free throw shooting performance nearly brought an end to Wheaton's six-game winning streak on Wednesday night. Instead the Thunder, making their debut in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, extended their streak to seven consecutive wins with a 76-75 victory over Millikin University. The victory keeps Wheaton undefeated in the CCIW at 6-0 and 12-3 overall. Millikin falls to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in the CCIW. Wheaton will wrap up its three-game homestand on Saturday night with a 7 pm tip-off against Elmhurst.

Holding their largest lead of the game at 68-58 following a Jordan Myroth lay-up with four minutes to play, Wheaton saw its comfortable lead thrown out the window with 3:48 to play when Aubrey Staton hit a three-pointer. On the play, Devin Kyler was called for a foul which sent Yanni Saddler to the free throw line for two free throws, which brought Millikin within 68-63. Another Staten jumper made it a one-possession game but Hannah Williams answered with a three-pointer and a running jumper to put Wheaton back ahead 73-65 with 43 seconds remaining.

Staten hit again with a three-pointer before Devin Kyler split a pair of free throw attempts prior to a Wheaton timeout with 33 seconds left and the Thunder leading 74-68. Staten followed with a lay-up, but Hannah Frazier missed both free throw attempts for the Thunder while Jordan Hildebrand was fouled and made both free throws, pulling the Big Blue within 74-72 with 16 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, Hannah Williams split a pair of free throws and Staton's missed three-pointer was grabbed by Myroth, who went to the free throw line with 3.2 seconds remaining. After missing the first attempt, the junior guard converted on the second, which loomed large when Saddler's three-point heave at the buzzer was good, bringing Wheaton's final margin of victory to 76-75.

Wheaton's free throw shooting was suspect throughout the night with the Thunder making just 15-of-28 free throw attempts for a 53.6% success rate. Wheaton was impressive from the field, shooting 51.9% (28-54) despite just a 29.4% (5-17) rate from the three-point line. Millikin shot over 40% in three of the four quarters, but a 20% rate in the third quarter, brought their overall shooting percentage down to 37.8% (28-74) with a 41.2% (7-17) three-point percentage and an 85.7% (12-14) mark at the free throw line. Wheaton narrowly outrebounded Millikin 43-38 despite giving up 14 offensive rebounds. Wheaton was dominant in the paint, blocking 12 Millikin shots led by Frazier's eight blocks.

Wheaton trailed for most of the first half and saw their deficit pushed to six when Hildebrand opened the second half with a driving lay-up to put the Big Blue ahead 37-31. Similar to Saturday night's win over Carroll, Wheaton took control of the game with a dominant stretch through the middle of the third quarter, turning a 39-34 deficit into a 46-41 lead with a 12-2 run over a stretch of four minutes. A pair of Saddler free throws made a one-score game, but a lay-up by Kristi Demski off a nifty feed from Jacqueline San Jule and two free throws by Kyler pushed Wheaton's lead to seven en route to a 52-48 lead after three quarters.

Williams opened the fourth quarter with a three-point play and later a three-pointer by Jennifer Berg pushed the lead to 60-52 with just under eight minutes left. Millikin countered with four straight points but lay-ups by Williams and Frazier pushed the lead out to 10 points prior to the frantic finish.

Hannah Williams led the Thunder with 21 points including 14 in the second half. Hannah Frazier narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and eight blocks. Jennifer Berg recorded a double-double wiht 11 points and 12 rebounds and Jordan Myroth narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 13 points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Aubrey Staton led the Big Blue with 25 points.