The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball program posted a 22-6 record in 2018-19, including a 15-1 record in CCIW play to win its fourth CCIW Championship in the last five seasons. The Thunder earned its fifth-consecutive bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament and finished the postseason ranked 25^th in the D3hoops.com Top-25.

This season, Wheaton was picked first in the CCIW's coaches preseason poll and is 14^th in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 poll. The Thunder return nine upperclassmen from last year's team, including All-CCIW selections Hannah Williams and Jordan Myroth (PICTURED LEFT), along with the CCIW Player of the Year, Hannah Frazier.

"It is good to have expectations. The players and coaches in this program want to compete for a conference championship every year," says Wheaton head women's basketball coach Kent Madsen. He continues, "They have enjoyed the challenge that comes with those expectations and all we can do is go out and try to play the best that we possibly can each night. It is our desire to do the best we can on a nightly basis. The neat thing is that some of our players, as good as they are, can get better. I think their desire is to get better as well." Madsen adds, "I am really proud of our team for simplifying everything and keeping our approach basic. When there are high expectations year after year, it could get draining. But, I think our players have done a good job of realizing that they can't control all of the outside stuff. All they can do is control what we do every day in practice. If they keep working and having great attitudes – then we will see where that takes us by the end of the year. "

Madsen states, "I am fortunate that we have a strong senior class. [Hannah] Frazier, Jordan [Myroth] , Jill [Berg], Kristi [Demski], Kirsten [Madsen], Jaq [Jacqueline San Jule] and Jane [Ortlip] are seven seniors that all have had games where they had a real strong and positive impact. Not only do they have a good skill level, but they are a quality group, and a strong group of leaders. That has stood out this year, how well they work together as a group, and how much they care about their teammates. On top of that we have two juniors, so to have nine upperclassmen is a luxury." He concludes, "They are leaders on and off the court. As wonderful as they are on the court, they are just as outstanding off the court. I am really excited to see where this group of upperclassmen can take us and how strong we can be night in and night out."
Madsen says of this year's team, "When we are playing well, we are more aggressive defensively and rebounding well. Offensively, we have a nice balance between inside scoring and hitting threes from the outside. That balance is huge." He adds, "We have the capability of shooting well from the outside. We can also score inside, not only from our post players, but from some guards that can get to the rim."
The Thunder head coach notes of a concern he has about his team, "Whenever you lose a rebounder of Devin Kyler's caliber, one of the top rebounders in program history, that becomes a focal point. You know that some people will have to pick up that slack on a nightly basis. I think we have the people that are more than capable of doing it, but we need to see if that is true in game action."

Frazier, a 6' 2" senior forward for the Thunder was a unanimous Division III All-American last season earning postseason honors from the Women's Baksetball Coaches Association (WBCA), D3hoops.com and D3News. In addition to her recognition as the CCIW Player of the Year, she was named Central Region Player of the Year by D3hoops.com. Frazier averaged 20.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and her 89 blocked shots led Division III. She also contributed 3.0 assists per game.

Madsen says of Frazier, "We are very fortunate to return a player of Hannah's ability level. I like that she tries to go out and do the best that she can each night. She is very versatile because she can score inside and outside, that has really helped her game."

Myroth averaged 7.8 points and 5.4 assists per game as a junior for Wheaton last year. Madsen notes of her, "Jordan was a First Team All-Conference player last year in basically her second year running the point. She is a top defender, and I think she can still get better." He adds, "Jordan is one of the players that I hope steps up in the area of rebounding for us."

Senior center Jill Berg (PICTURED RIGHT) played in 22 games for Wheaton last season. She grabbed 6.2 rebounds per game and averaged 2.1 blocked shots per game. Berg averaged 5.3 points per game, shooting 53.6% (45-of-84) from the field. Madsen states of Berg, "I am hoping Jill steps in with some additional minutes this year and helps us in rebounding. She is more than capable of scoring."

Junior guard Hannah Williams (PICTURED LEFT) was second on Wheaton's roster in scoring last season, with 11.5 points per game. Madsen says of her, "Hannah Williams is coming off a Second Team All-Conference season last year, and I think she looks even better this year. That has been encouraging and exciting to see."

Kristi Demski (PICTURED LEFT) averaged 5.8 points per game last season and was second on the team with 41 made three-pointers. Kirsten Madsen played in 22 games last year and contributed 4.2 points per game, and Jane Ortlip played in 22 games with an average of 1.1 points per game. Jacqueline San Jule came off the bench to appear in 21 games for the Thunder as a junior in 2018-19. Coach Madsen says, "We have a group of really good shooters in Kristi, Kirsten and Jane that provides some outside punch. And then you have Jaq that is another really good ballhandler." He adds of junior Bonnie Zeller, "Bonnie keeps improving and showing good signs as she moves into her junior year."

Hannah Swider (PICTURED LEFT), Taylor Sanders, Emily Nerem and Paris Chaney make up Wheaton's sophomore class this season. Swider played in 21 games last season, averaging nearly two points per game. Madsen says of her, "Hannah Swider definitely has the capability of scoring. I think she keeps improving in her defense." He adds of Sanders, "Taylor will come off the bench and be a sparkplug because of her energy her ability to get after it." Madsen concludes noting of Nerem and Chaney, "Emily and Paris will be nice role players on this team."

Freshmen Zoe Nordling, Ellie Cassel, Annie Tate and Ameila Sniffin join the Thunder in 2019-20 for the rookie seasons. Madsen says of the foursome, "In the freshmen class we have Ellie, Amelia, Zoe and Annie. The nice thing they have going for them is that they don't have any high expectations right now in the sense that they can take their time learning and gaining the knowledge, so they know what they are doing. They don't have pressure on them to step in right away because we have so many returning players." He adds, "There is a lot of ability there, and in time some of them will step up into key roles.