Wheaton, Ill - The No. 1 seed Wheaton women's basketball team (20-6) earned an impressive 76-44 victory against No. 6 seed North Central (12-15) on Friday in the CCIW Tournament Semifinal in King Arena. Wheaton's 32-point margin of victory tonight is the second-largest margin in tournament history.

Wheaton's victory tonight was its 20th win of the season. The accomplishment marks the 16th 20-win season in program history and the sixth-straight campaign that Wheaton has earned a 20-win season.

Wheaton advances to the CCIW Tournament championship game Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against No. 2 seed Illinois Wesleyan in King Arena. Saturday's contest will mark the fifth-consecutive season that Wheaton has faced Illinois Wesleyan in the CCIW Tournament Championship Game. Illinois Wesleyan (18-8) advanced to the championship game with a dramatic 76-75 (OT) victory against No. 5 seed Augustana (14-13).

Senior Hannah Frazier led Wheaton tonight with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. Frazier grabbed 15 rebounds, with three blocked shots and three steals. Hannah Williams scored 10 points with four rebounds. Hannah Swider scored 10 points, making a pair of three-pointers.

Jill Berg scored nine points off the Wheaton bench, adding five rebounds. Jordan Myroth, Krist Demski and Zoe Nordling each scored six points for the Thunder. Myroth grabbed 10 rebounds, with five assists.

Wheaton shot 42.4% (28-of-66) from the field, including 36% (9-of-25) behind the three-point arc. The Cardinals posted a 19% (12-of-63) field goal percentage, including 18.2% (4-of-22) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 64.7% (11-of-17) at the free throw line and North Central had a 61.5% (16-of-26) effort at the charity stripe. The Thunder out-rebounded the Cardinals 52-45, with a 15-11 edge on the offensive glass for North Central.

North Central scored the first basket tonight to host a 2-0 advantage, its only lead of the game. Wheaton responded with a 16-2 run to give the hosts a 16-4 lead with 1:42 remaining in the game. Wheaton made four three-pointers in the run, including a pair by Frazier. The Thunder led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Wheaton out-scored the Cardinals 14-2 in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 32-12 with 4:25 remaining in the first half. The Thunder led 39-19 at the halftime intermission.

The Thunder scored 12 unanswered points over the first six-plus minutes of the third quarter to increase its lead to 32 points at 51-19 with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Wheaton led 53-25 at the end of the third quarter.

Wheaton's largest lead of the game was a 35-point bulge at 72-37 with with 2:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. Wheaton out-scored the Cardinals 23-19 in the final quarter.

Jessica Kowalczyk led the Cardinals with 11 points, as she made three three-pointers. Natali Dimitrova added eight points and Allison Pearson had seven points with eight rebounds.