Wheaton, Ill. -- Returning from their two-game series in Washington state last weekend, the Wheaton women's basketball team continued their non-conference slate inside King Arena on Tuesday night with a matchup against Ripon College. The Thunder's four-game win streak came under threat early on, but the hosts clawed their way back into the contest after halftime and ran past their Wisconsin guests in the fourth quarter to win 67-59. Annika Richardson scored a game-high twenty points and Ellie Cassel registered her second double-double of the season to help move Wheaton to 5-1 on the year.

Tonight's game got off to a back-and-forth start with the two teams trading baskets and looking to build a useful early advantage. With the score tied at eight points apiece, back-to-back layups by Richardson and Cassel pushed Wheaton out in front. Ripon notched a jumper in the lane via a fast break opportunity, but Wheaton's Kate Oliver had the final score of the first quarter with a free throw to make it 16-13 in favor of the hosts. After a similarly competitive opening to the second quarter, Ripon drained a three and another fast break jump shot to regain the lead, but Richardson answered back with one of her four three-pointers on the night to tie the game at 23-23. The visiting Red Hawks then put the clamps down defensively, limiting the Thunder to just two points in the final five minutes of the first half. An Oliver layup moved the scoreboard to 30-28 in Ripon's favor, but seven unanswered in the final 2:30 saw the away team enjoy a 35-28 intermission edge. 

Wheaton has struggled in the third quarter of games so far this season, and given the way the first half ended it would have been easy for the hosts to fall back on old habits and let the contest get away from them. But the Thunder managed to cool down the Red Hawks' offensive rhythm while also scoring baskets at key moments to stay in the game. Ripon still possessed a six point lead with just under three minutes left to play in the quarter, but a layup from Anna Fernandez followed by a responsive jumper from Cassel in the paint with five seconds left cut the deficit down to a more encouraging 47-43 line. Wheaton carried this momentum boost into the final frame and took full advantage of their sharper tempo and cohesive movement to double their opponents' point total of 12 in the fourth quarter and ultimately win without much trouble. Three-point shooting from Richardson and Caroline Sikkink was critical down the stretch, and a shot from beyond the arc by the former with less than four minutes remaining put the Thunder up by seven and effectively moved the contest out of the Red Hawks' reach. From that point on Wheaton only needed to manage the game and they did well to hit their free throws and avoid turning the ball over, denying Ripon a chance to mount a late comeback.

Wheaton hit five of their seven shots from the charity stripe on Tuesday and posted a respectable 49.1% mark from the floor overall. They failed to score on any of the three-pointers they attempted in the first quarter, but the hosts made three out of four in the final segment, and these nine points proved vital. Ripon hit an impressive eight threes in the game but left seven free points on the board from the foul line. Wheaton held their visitors to under 40% shooting across the four frames, and the second quarter was the only period in which the Red Hawks managed to shoot better than 38%. The Thunder edged their opponents from the north in rebounding and turnovers at 34-31 and 16-18 marks, respectively. Ripon secured more fast break points and scoring from the bench, but Wheaton's point differential in the paint was decisive at 38-24.

Richardson registered five rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals to accompany her game-high scoring total. Cassel scored 11 points, grabbed the same number of boards, and came up with five steals and three blocks in an all-around showing. Caroline Sikkink tallied 17 points, four assists, and four rebounds in a valuable performance. Kate Oliver came up with eight points, a pair of assists, and three boards, while Lily Schwen dished out a game-high eight dimes and scored six points.

After enjoying a short break for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Thunder women will return to the court next Wednesday night to face Augustana in their conference opener. Tip off is set for 7 PM in Rock Island.