Wheaton, Ill. -- Looking to bounce back from their midweek defeat to Carroll, the Wheaton women's basketball team returned to King Arena for their fourth consecutive home contest on Saturday evening. Illinois Wesleyan, a team that Wheaton defeated on the road earlier this season, provided the opposition for what proved to be a competitive and high-energy conference battle. After a back-and-forth second half that saw multiple lead changes, the visiting Titans eventually emerged victorious by a score of 56-54 thanks to a converted layup in the closing seconds. The Thunder's record now sits at 10-8 overall and 5-4 in CCIW play as a result of tonight's heartbreaker. Kate Oliver once again stole the show against IWU, going for team-highs in points, assists, and steals on Saturday.

The Thunder opened the scoring in tonight's meeting via a jumper from Caroline Sikkink, but the home side struggled mightily on offense in the first quarter. Wheaton managed just four points off of a 2-14 shooting mark in the opening frame, and despite Wesleyan only scoring one more basket from the floor, the Titans' four free throws enabled them to hold a 10-4 lead heading into the second quarter. Sikkink scored another jumper in the lane to earn all four of Wheaton's points early on. The visitors extended their lead to eight points on their first possession of the second quarter, but five straight from Caylee Hermanson pulled Wheaton back to within three. Illinois Wesleyan mounted another run to gain a 20-11 advantage with three minutes to go in the first half, but the Thunder came storming back with a nine-point run of their own that was largely spearheaded by Oliver's offensive aggression, and the scoreboard read 20 points apiece. IWU converted a jump shot in the paint on their last possession of the quarter to take a 22-20 lead into the locker room.

Contrary to the first half's offensive deficiencies, the third quarter turned out to be a breathless barn burner, as both sides found their shooting touch and ratcheted up the tempo in attempts to seize control of the game. Combining for 39 points in the period, the Thunder and the Titans proved to be evenly matched as neither team could fully grasp the momentum for any length of time. Hermanson registered a fast break layup to give Wheaton their first lead since the opening series of the game at 25-24, but Wesleyan answered immediately to pull back in front. Another six-point surge by Oliver gave the Thunder their first cushion of the contest midway through the quarter, and a basket from Annika Richardson provided Wheaton's largest advantage at 38-32 with about three minutes remaining in the period. But the Titans, buoyed by their vocal traveling fan base, responded well and refused to let the hosts go into cruise control. Back-to-back three pointers from the guests tied the game at 38 each, and IWU answered a pair of Thunder free throws with a clutch last-second jumper to earn a slim 41-40 nod heading into the decisive quarter.

The teams cooled off at the start of the fourth quarter and it took over two minutes for the scoring to resume, but Richardson finally dropped in a three to move Wheaton back in front. Illinois Wesleyan seized the advantage in the middle of the period by keeping Wheaton off the scoreboard and earning seven unanswered points to claim a 54-47 split with four minutes left to play. Just when it appeared as though the Titans were in position to earn the road win, the home side found another spark and added some late drama to the contest. Sikkink scooped in a layup with 2:13 remaining to end the scoring drought for the Thunder, but Illinois Wesleyan still held a five point lead with one minute left in the game. Kate Oliver then made two big plays 30 seconds apart to tie the game at 54-54. She first earned a trip to the foul line and splashed in both free throws before stealing the ball on the Titans' penultimate possession and draining a three to complete the seven-point comeback. With ten seconds left to play, the guests took hold of the ball with a chance to win it in regulation. Unsurprisingly, Illinois Wesleyan looked to their leading scorer, Lauren Huber, to come up with the game-winner and she delivered. Huber drove into the paint and converted a tough layup with six seconds remaining to give the visitors a 56-54 edge. The Thunder went for the win on the last possession of the game, but their three-point attempt was off the mark and the Titans picked up a key road victory in dramatic fashion.

Neither team had their finest shooting performance in the game despite the improved offense in the second half. Illinois Wesleyan posted a 36.1% tally from the floor, while Wheaton shot 31.3% on the night. Both squads posted a 28.6% three-point shooting number, with Wheaton registering six shots from beyond the arc to IWU's four. The two sides each tallied eight free throws and eight second chance points. Wheaton held a dramatic advantage in the points off of turnovers category, but Illinois Wesleyan tallied ten more points in the paint than their hosts. Thanks to Oliver's big night, Wheaton's bench out-scored the Wesleyan substitutes, 22-10. Fittingly for such a competitive contest, the rebounding and turnover numbers were nearly identical for the two teams.

Kate Oliver was Wheaton's most productive player for the second time this season against tonight's opponents, going for team-highs of 20 points, three assists, and three steals. She also added six rebounds in 27 minutes on the floor. Anna Fernandez was one point short of a double-double, earning nine points and ten rebounds. She was joined on ten boards by Annika Richardson, who scored eight points for the Thunder. Caylee Hermanson also contributed nine points. Ellie Cassel chipped in with five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots off the bench,

Wheaton will look to shake off two straight disappointing home results when they host North Central at 7 PM on Wednesday.