Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton women's basketball team, ranked 11th in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 poll, defeated Maryville College (Tenn.) 58-49 on Friday night in the first night of action at the 2021 "Beth Baker Classic". Otterbein University defeated North Park 68-61 in tonight's opening game.

Maryville (0-1) takes on North Park (1-1) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the opening game of day two. Wheaton (2-0) entertains Otterbein (1-0) at 5:00 p.m. in the tournament finale.

Preseason All-American Annie Tate (PICTURED LEFT) led Wheaton tonight against Maryville with 22 points and six rebounds. Ellie Cassel had a huge game on the glass with 14 rebounds. Caroline Sikkink came off the Thunder bench for 13 points and five rebounds. Hannah Swider scored 12 pointsm with two steals. Lily Schwen collected six rebounds and led the Thunder with four assists. Caylee Hermanson grabbed five rebounds for the hosts.

Wheaton shot 33.3% (23-for-69) from the field tonight, including 17.2% (5-of-29) from three-point range. The Scots posted a 30% (18-60) field goal percentage, including a 32% (8-for-25) effort behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 87.5% (7-of-8) at the free throw line and Maryville shot 62.5% (5-for-8) at the charity stripe. Wheaton was strong in the paint tonight, as the Thunder out-rebounded the Scots 48-36, including a 16-7 edge on the offensive glass. The offensive rebounding advantage helped Wheaton to a 13-6 edge in second-chance points and Wheaton out-scored the Scots 26-16 in the paint.

Jordan Heifner led Maryville with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Courtney Carruthers scored 10 points and Elsa Eckenrod tallied eight points with eight rebounds.

The first quarter tonight was closely contested and was tied 14-14 at the end of the first 10 minutes of the game. Tate scored seven points in the first quarter and Swider added five, as the duo combined for 12 of Wheaton's 14 points in the opening period. Cassell collected four rebounds in the first quarter, and Schwen added two assists.

Wheaton twice led by as many as five points in the second quarter. The final occurrence of this was with 2:20 left before halftime when Tate got a defensive rebound and quickly pushed the ball to the basket for a layup as she gave Wheaton a 25-20 lead. The Thunder led 27-24 at the halftime intermission. Cassel and Sikkink each scored four points in the second quarter, and Cassel collected another four rebounds in the period.

Carruthers scored the first basket of the third quarter to tie the game at 27-27 with 7:55 remaining in the third. Her basket was Maryville's last basket over the next two-and-a-half minutes as the Thunder scored 10 unanswered points to take a 37-27 lead with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter. Tate and Sikkink each scored four points in the run as the pair combined to score eight of Wheaton's 10 points. The key run helped the Thunder hold a 41-33 lead at the end of the third. Tate led Wheton in the third quarter with eight points and Schwen had four rebounds.

Hermanson and Ana Mooney each made baskets in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to give Wheaton its largest lead of the game with a 12-point bulge. The Thunder led 45-33 with 8:15 remaining in the game. The Thunder never led by less than five points in the fourth quarter, securing the victory on its home court.

Tate led everyone in second half scoring tonight with 13 points. Schwen and Cassel each grabbed six rebounds in the second half for the hosts.