Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team rallied from a second-half deficit to defeat Carthage 47-40 on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton has won its last five games, including today's victory as the Thunder are now 7-1 (7-1 CCIW) on the season. Carthage is 0-6 (0-6 CCIW) in the 2021 campaign.

Sophomore Annie Tate led the Thunder in scoring today with 13 points and she added eight rebounds. Zoe Nordling tallied 12 points off the Thunder bench, with six rebounds. Senior Hannah Williams scored nine points with five rebounds. Junior Hannah Swider made a pair of three-pointers in scoring eight points this afternoon with five rebounds. Ellie Cassel collected six rebounds off the Thunder bench.

Wheaton posted a 26.3% (15-of-57) field goal percentage, including 19% (4-of-21) behind the three-point arc. Carthage shot 33.3% (17-of-51) from the field today including 20% (4-for-20) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 86.7% (13-for-15) at the free throw line and Carthage had a 50% (2-for-4) effort at the charity stripe. The Thunder out-rebounded Wheaton 48-29, including a 17-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Wheaton used its rebounding advantage to help the Thunder to an 18-2 advantage in second chance points today.

Wheaton's largest lead of the first quarter was a four-point advantage at 12-8 following a Swider three-pointer with 1:58 remaining in the first period. A Carthage layup in the final 15 seconds of the quarter cut Wheaton's lead to 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The Carthage defense held Wheaton to just four points in the second quarter as the guests held a 21-16 lead at halftime.

Carthage came out strong in the third quarter with a 9-2 scoring run for the guests in the first 5:30 of the quarter. The Carthage surge allowed the guests to their largest lead of the game with a 12-point advantage at 30-18 with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. Carthage led the Thunder 34-26 at the end of the period.

Carthage's Addison Ebeling scored for the guests to open the fourth quarter to give her team a 36-26 lead. Wheaton responded with 13-conseucutive points to take a 39-36 lead with 5:30 remaining in the game. Swider started the Wheaton run on a three-pointer with 9:25 remaining in the game, followed later by a pair of Nordling free throws. With 6:35 left in the game, Williams drove to the basket for a layup and was fouled and drew a foul. She made the free throw for an traditional three-point play. On Wheaton's next possession, Tate made a basket and also followed with a free throw to give Wheaton a 37-36 lead with 6:05 left in the game. The advantage was Wheaton's first lead of the second half.

Tate added another layup with 5:30 remaining in the game to increase Wheaton's lead to 39-36. Carthage scored with 4:10 left in the game to cut the host's lead to 39-38. Nordling drained a three-pointer on Wheaton's next possession to extend Wheaton's lead to four points at 42-38 with 3:22 left in the game. Wheaton shot 5-of-6 at the free throw line in the final two minutes to secure the 47-40 victory.

Lauren Knight led Carthage with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Marguret Spear and Bridgett Barnet each tallied eight points for the guests. Destiny Antoine collected seven rebounds for Carthage today.

Wheaton returns to action next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. when Carroll University visits King Arena for a CCIW matchup.