Tacoma, Wash. -- The Wheaton women's basketball team's first game outside of King Arena this season could not have gone much better. Traveling to Tacoma, Washington to take part in the two-day Doug McArthur invitational hosted by the University of Puget Sound, the Thunder faced off against the Pacific Lutheran Lutes on Friday night in the two programs' first-ever meeting. Wheaton rode a dominant first half performance to a comfortable 30-point victory and improved to 3-1 on the season as a result.

The Lutes hit two of the game's first three shots to take an early 4-2 lead, but this proved to be the only lead they would have in the entire contest. A three-pointer from Caroline Sikkink, her first of nine points on the night, put Wheaton on top at 5-4, and the long-distance travelers registered the final six points of the first quarter to give themselves some breathing room. Pacific Lutheran tried to remain within touching distance before the end of the first half, but resolute defending from the Thunder combined with efficient offensive play meant that the game's outcome was obvious far before the final horn. Annika Richardson scored nine straight points in a 1:40 span as the second quarter wound down to stretch Wheaton's lead up to 22 points, and the Thunder went into the break holding an impressive 36-16 edge.

The two teams canceled each other out in the third period, each racking up 18 points. But Wheaton managed the game expertly and held the Lutes to just seven points in the fourth quarter to snuff out any hope of a late comeback. The Thunder shot a solid 47% from the floor on the night, including a 60% mark in the second quarter to mount the run that would ultimately produce their blowout result. Pacific Lutheran posted a dismal 10% field goal conversion rate in the same period. Wheaton only took four free throws in the game but made them all. The key statistic that underlined the team's dominance came in the form of turnovers, as the Thunder forced 25 by the Lutes while only turning the ball over seven times themselves. Wheaton also enjoyed big advantages in the bench points and points in the paint categories at 23-6 and 38-16 splits, respectively.

Richardson led all scorers with 25 points to her name and grabbed eight rebounds to steer Wheaton offensively. Freshman Kate Oliver was the team's next highest point-collector at 13 and nabbed a joint team-high two steals. Ellie Cassel was the third Thunder player to hit double digits in scoring, going for ten points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals, and a team-best four assists. 

The Thunder women's team will meet another Washington-based opponent for the very first time on Saturday evening, and they can expect a stiffer test in their second matchup of the weekend. The 24th-ranked Loggers of Puget Sound are set to play host to Wheaton at 7 PM CT.