Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team opened its season on Friday night in the opening evening of the 2022 Beth Baker Classic. The Thunder (0-1) hosted Hanover College (0-1) in King Arena and the Panthers edged the Thunder 53-50 in a tightly contested matchup.
The Panthers jumped out to a 9-4 lead, however, the Thunder responded with an 11-2 run to take a 15-11 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter. Hanover carved into Wheaton's lead as the Thunder held a one-point lead at 17-16 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Annika Richardson scored 11 of Wheaton's 17 first-quarter points and
Ellie Cassel (PICTURED LEFT) grabbed six rebounds.
In the second quarter the teams traded baskets evenly and Wheaton's lead remained a one-point bulge at the halftime intermission as the Thunder led 25-24 at the break.
Hanover started the third quarter strong with a 10-1 run to take an eight-point lead with 6:12 remaining in the third. The Panthers led 40-31 with 3:06 remaining in the third, when Wheaton scored six unanswered points. The Thunder run was capped by a steal for
Lily Schwen, and she drove to the basket for a layup that trimmed the guests' lead to 40-37 at the end of the third quarter.
Wheaton scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to give the hosts a 42-40 lead with 7:58 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 5-0 run to open the fourth combined with the 6-0 run to close out the third quarter gave Wheaton an 11-0 run over a span of 5:08.
Ellie Cassel stole the ball and
Caroline Sikkink made a jumper on the Thunder possession the resulted to give Wheaton a 44-42 lead with 5:42 left in the game, it was Wheaton's final lead of the contest. Hanover built up a five-point lead at 53-438 with 1:25 left in the game. Hermanson made a basket with 52-seconds left in the game to cut the Panthers' lead to 53-50 with 52-seconds left in the game. The team's traded possessions and the Panther missed a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left in the game to give Wheaton an opportunity to tie the contest. A Thunder three-point attempt in the final second missed and was collected by Hanover as the Panthers escaped with the win.
Richardson led the Thunder with 18 points and five rebounds. Cassel tallied a 'double-double' with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also added three assists and three steals Sikkink scored 10 points, with six rebounds. Hermanson and
Lily Schwen each had three assists.
Grace Bezold led Hanover with 23 points and nine rebounds. Katherine Benter had nine points with 10 rebounds.
The Beth Baker Classic concludes on Saturday. The opening game tomorrow is Hanover versus Elmhurst University at 3:00 p.m. Wheaton takes on UW-Platteville in the final game of the tournament at 5:00 p.m.
