Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder women's basketball team was impressive in the final 20 minutes Thursday night in a 90-83 victory against Millikin (1-1, 1-1 CCIW) in King Arena. The Big Blue led Wheaton 39-30 at halftime, but Wheaton out-scored the guests 60-44 in the final two quarters. Wheaton (2-0, 2-0 CCIW) shot 81.5% (22-of-27) from the field in the second half, including 100% (6-of-6) behind the three-point arc to rally for the win. The two teams will face each other again on Saturday in Decatur for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.

Senior Hannah Williams led the Thunder with a career-high 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, including 5-of-5 from three-point range, and she added three assists. Hannah Swider scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and three assists. Annie Tate also tallied 19 points as she shot 7-of-10 from the field, with a pair of three-pointers. Tate grabbed seven rebounds for the hosts. Ellie Cassel collected a team-high nine rebounds. Lily Schwen grabbed five rebounds, with six points and a game-high six assists.

Wheaton shot a 59.3% (32-for-54) field goal percentage in the game, including 81.8% (9-of-11) from three-point range. Millikin shot 43.3% (29-of-67) from the field, including 33.3% (9-of-27) behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 68% (17-of-25) at the free throw line and the Big Blue made 69.6% (16-of-23) of their free throw attempts. Wheaton out-rebounded the Big Blue 39-30, and Millikin held a 16-11 edge on the offensive glass.

Millikin jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first 4:40 of the game. The strong opening quarter continued as the guests led 19-10 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Wheaton out-scored the Big Blue 12-4 in the first 3:40 of the second quarter to trim Millikin's lead to 23-22 with 6:25 left before halftime. The matchup was tied 25-25 with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter when Millikin put together a 14-5 run to close out the half as the Big Blue led 39-30 at halftime.

Millikin's largest lead of the game was a 15-point advantage at 51-36 with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter. The Big Blue led 59-48 with 2:19 left in the third quarter when Wheaton put together a 12-2 run to close out the quarter as the 'Orange and Blue' trailed Millikin 61-60 to start the fourth quarter.

Millikin led 69-68 with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter when Schwen made a pair of free throws to give Wheaton a 70-69 lead. Schwen's free throws sparked a string of 12-consecutive points for Wheaton as the Thunder extended its lead to 81-69 with 3:37 left in the fourth quarter. Williams scored 10 of Wheaton's 12 points in the run. The run proved critical to Wheaton's victory as the Big Blue never got closer than a five-point deficit in the closing minutes as Wheaton picked up the win.

Elyce Knudsen led Millikin with 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, with four three-pointers. She added six rebounds with four steals. Jordan Hildebrand scored 12 points with six rebounds for the guests. Abby Ratsch scored nine points with six rebounds for the Big Blue and Miranda Fox added eight points.