Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team, ranked 24^th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, returned to action on Thursday afternoon following a 19-day layoff for finals and Christmas. The Thunder defeated visiting Concordia University (Wis.) 59-51 in this afternoon's matinee matchup. Wheaton improves to 10-2 overall, while the Falcons fall to 5-4.

Freshman Annika Richardson led the Thunder today with a career-high 16 points, making a pair of three-pointers. She grabbed eight rebounds and added two steals. Hannah Swider scored 14 points, making two three-pointers. She collected six rebounds, including three offensive boards, and snatched two steals. Ellie Cassell tied her career-high with 16 rebounds and she added nine points in a team-high 38 minutes. Lily Schwen and Caroline Sikkink each scored eight points. Sikkink added nine rebounds and distributed a game-high five assists.

Wheaton shot 31.9% (22-of-69) from the field today, including 30.8% (4-for-13) behind the three-point arc. The Falcons posted a 28.3% (17-of-60) field goal percentage, including 25% (4-for-16) from three-point range. The Thunder shot 78.6% (11-of-14) at the free throw line and CUW shot 81.3% (13-of-16) at the line. Wheaton dominated the Falcons on the glass 57-35, including a 22-10 edge in offensive boards.

Reagan Obry scored 14 points to lead Concordia. Lindsey Smitsdorff scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the guests. Aubrey Buchholtz scored 10 points for the Falcons.

The game was tied 2-2 with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter when Cassel made a basket that started a string of 12 unanswered points for the hosts. Richardson and Swider each made a three-pointer in the run that gave Wheaton a 14-2 lead with 2:55 remaining in the opening quarter. Wheaton led the guests 19-7 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Swider scored a team-high eight points in the third quarter, making two three-pointers in the quarter. Richardson scored five first-quarter points and Cassel scored four points with five rebounds.

The Thunder maintained a double-digit lead for much of the second quarter, leading by as many as 14 points. The hosts led by 12 points at halftime, with a 29-17 lead.
Wheaton led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, occurring twice. Wheaton's final 15-point lead of the quarter was a 40-25 Thunder lead with 4:54 remaining in the third. Richardson played all 10 minutes in the third quarter, scoring a team-high nine points in the quarter.

Wheaton's largest lead of the game was a 16-point edge at 53-37 with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Concordia's Deidre Lassiter scored for the guests with 6:10 left in the game to spark a 14-2 Falcons' run that trimmed Wheaton's lead to 55-51 with 31-seconds remaining in the game. Wheaton held on for the win by going 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the final 30-seconds of the game.   

Wheaton was originally scheduled to travel to University of Chicago tomorrow for a New Year's Eve matchup with the Maroons. However, the game was canceled due to COVID protocols within the UChicago program. Wheaton resumes conference play in its next matchup as the Thunder host North Park on January 5 at 7:00 p.m.