Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton women's basketball team closed out the 2022 Beth Baker Classic and the opening weekend of their season on Saturday evening by earning their first win of the campaign. The Thunder led wire-to-wire against the UW-Platteville Pioneers and eventually secured a 61-53 result to move to 1-1 on the season. Caroline Sikkink led all players with 23 points tonight, and the junior was named to the All-Tournament team for the second straight season, joining Hanover's Grace Bezold (Tournament MVP) and Maddi Sears, Elmhurst's Katie Matrise, and Platteville's Macey Banasik in earning this year's recognition for the competition.

    Sikkink (pictured left, with tournament namesake Beth Baker) registered the first three baskets of the contest to give the home team an early advantage, and a three-pointer from the junior put Wheaton ahead by their largest margin of the first quarter with just under two minutes left. The Thunder's defense was stifling in the first portion of Saturday's matchup, holding the Pioneers to just four points from the floor and an 11.76% shooting mark. Back-to-back buckets from Ellie Cassel and Caylee Hermanson pushed the hosts into a double-digit lead at the start of the second quarter. The two teams traded baskets until a jumper in the paint from Annika Richardson and a buzzer-beating three from long range by Hermanson gave the Thunder a comfortable 15-point margin at the half.

    The visitors outscored Wheaton by two points in the third quarter as UW-Platteville found their offensive rhythm and the Thunder's shooting cooled off, but Wheaton still enjoyed a 45-32 edge heading into the final frame. The fourth quarter was the highest-scoring and most back-and-forth segment of the contest. The Pioneers dialed up their pressure on both ends of the floor and forced Wheaton into uncomfortable possessions and a more choppy style of play while scoring 21 points themselves. But the Thunder showed good game management skills by never allowing their guests to get within seven points of their lead, and a free throw from Sikkink in the final 30 seconds put the seal on a solid win for the hosts.

Wheaton shot 39.2% from the floor this evening, while holding the Pioneers to a 25.9% mark. The Thunder knocked down three of their ten attempts from beyond the arc, but Platteville had to settle for only four conversions off of 21 attempts. The Pioneers posted an excellent 87.5% mark from the free throw line, while the home side shot 18-28 from the charity stripe. Wheaton used the tempo of the game to their advantage, grabbing 14 fast break points and 16 off of turnovers. Both sides enjoyed good production off of the bench and down low as they combined for 38 substitute points and 46 points in the paint. Each team turned the ball over 12 times, while Wheaton held the edge in both blocked shots and steals at 4-1 and 9-5 totals, respectively.

Sikkink grabbed four rebounds and a steal to go with her game-high point total. The rookie Anna Fernandez was Wheaton's next-highest scorer with 12 and joined Sikkink on four boards and a takeaway. Annika Richardson collected a game-best eight rebounds, while Kate Oliver earned a team-high two assists and scored eight points. Ellie Cassel did a little bit of everything for the Thunder in Saturday's victory, scoring five points, blocking a game-high three shots, leading all players with four steals, and grabbing seven rebounds. 

After earning their first home win of the 2022-23 season, the Thunder will stay in King Arena on Tuesday night for a 7 PM tip off against Saint Mary's College (Ind.).