Elmhurst, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team continued road action on Saturday with a conference matchup at Elmhurst University (1-7, 0-1 CCIW). Wheaton defeated the Bluejays 75-57, as the Thunder have won the last eight matchups against Elmhurst. Wheaton is now 8-1 on the season, with a 1-1 record in conference play.
Hannah Swider led the Thunder this afternoon with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The senior made all six of her two-point field goal attempts in the contest.
Annie Tate scored 15 points with six rebounds.
Caylee Hermanson scored 13 points with eight rebounds.
Ana Mooney tallied six points off the Thunder bench.
Wheaton shot 53.6% (30-of-56) from the field in the game, including 36.4% (4-for-11) behind the three- point arc. Elmhurst posted a 32.7% (16-of-49) field goal percentage, including 27.3% (3-of-11) from three-point range. The Thunder shot 78.6% (11-of-14) at the free throw line and the hosts had a 75.9% (22-of-29) effort at the charity stripe. Elmhurst out-rebounded the Thunder 34-30 and the hosts held an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass.
Wheaton led the Bluejays 12-8 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a layup by
Annika Richardson at end of the quarter.
A bucket by Swider with 5:00 left in the second quarter gave Wheaton a 20-12. The eight-point bulge was Wheaton's largest lead of the first half. Elmhurst's Payton Schmidt made a layup in the closing seconds of the second quarter to make the score 27-23 in favor of Wheaton at the halftime intermission.
Annie Tate led Wheaton with five points in the first half. Hermanson, Swider,
Zoe Nordling and
Ana Mooney each had four points in the opening half of play.
Swider scored 10 points in the third quarter to help Wheaton lead by eight points at the end of the third period, 50-42.
Wheaton led by seven at 54-47 with 7:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Thunder put together a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 15 points at 64-49 with 3:55 left in the game.
Wheaton returns home next Wednesday as the Thunder host Carroll in a 7:00 p.m. tipoff in King Arena.
