Waverly, Iowa - The Thunder women's basketball team saw its season come to a close on Friday with a 67-55 loss to Hope College in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Wheaton ends its season with an overall record of 22-6. This year's NCAA Tournament appearance was Wheaton's fifth-consecutive trip to the postseason and the Thunder conclude the season with 22 wins or more for the fifth-consecutive season. The Flying Dutch, ranked 10th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, move to 24-4 overall and advance to Saturday's Second Round matchup.

Trailing 13-6 at the end of a sloppy first quarter, Wheaton chipped away at the Hope lead in the early stages of the second quarter. With the score at 19-14 midway through the quarter, Wheaton embarked on 9-0 run starting with consecutive lay-ups by Jill Berg and carried the momentum into the media timeout following an emphatic block by Berg. Out of the timeout, Wheaton took its first lead since 2-0 on a jumper by Hannah Williams and stretched its lead to 23-19 on a Kirsten Madsen three-pointer with 3:35 remaining in the half.

A jumper by Kenedy Schoonveld on the ensuing possession put an end to the Thunder run, but would also be the last points Wheaton would allow in the half, holding the Flying Dutch off the board for the final 3:08. Devin Kyler answered Schoonveld's jumper with one of her own and Berg capped the half with a lay-up in the final minute to give the Thunder a 27-21 halftime advantage.

Wheaton held the Flying Dutch to just 21.4% (6-28) from the floor in the first half while shooting 42.3% (11-26). Both teams struggled from the three-point line, combining to shoot 2-17. Hope would finish shooting 40% (22-55) behind a 59.3% clip in the second half. Wheaton finished the game at 41.6%. The Thunder shot 5-19 (26.3%) from beyond the arc while the Flying Dutch finished at 33% (4-12) from deep. Wheaton made six of its seven free throw attempts with Hope shooting 19-23 (82.6%) from the charity stripe.

Hope took control of the game early in the third quarter after trading baskets over the opening possessions. Leading 31-25 with 7:55 remaining in the quarter, Wheaton would go the next five and a half minutes without a basket as the Flying Dutch ran off 12 unanswered points to lead 37-31. Hannah Frazier's three-pointer with 2:30 left in the quarter put an in the the run and was followed quickly by a fast break lay-up to cut the Hope lead to one and cause a Hope timeout. Following a Hope lay-up, Frazier connected on another three-pointer to pull Wheaton even at 39. However, Hope ended the quarter on a 6-0 run over the remaining 1:29 to take a 45-39 lead at the end of the quarter.

An early three-pointer by Francesca Buchanan gave Hope its largest lead of the night to start the fourth quarter but Wheaton once again rallied, pulling to within 48-44 on two Kirsten Madsen free throws and a three-pointer from Kristi Demski. Hope responded with an 8-2 run to push the lead into double digits for the first time of the night, where it would stay for the remainder of the game.

Hannah Frazier finished the game with 15 points, bringing her record-setting season total to 559 points, a Wheaton record. Hannah Williams also finished in double figures with 12 points. Devin Kyler scored six points and grabbed three rebounds. Kyler finishes her career ranked third in program history with 798 career rebounds. Kyler also dished out seven assists. Jordan Myroth finished with six points and six assists. Myroth finishes her season third in program history with 150 assists. Jill Berg scord eight points with four blocks.