Wheaton, Ill. -- Attempting to win their 30th straight game against the North Central Cardinals, the Thunder women's basketball team returned to King Arena on Wednesday night for their fifth consecutive home contest. A high-scoring first half eventually gave way to a relatively smooth second half scoreline, and Wheaton earned a double-digit victory over their Naperville neighbors to move to 6-4 in conference play.
Caroline Sikkink led all scorers with 17 points tonight and
Annika Richardson put in a solid all-around performance to guide the hosts to victory.
The two teams combined for 41 points in a fast-paced first quarter that saw both sides connect on at least 40% of their shots. Sikkink opened the scoring after just nine seconds, but the Cardinals answered with a layup on their first possession to set the tone of the first half. After a back-and-forth opening five minutes, North Central earned their biggest lead of the game when team-leading rebounder Megan McClure connected on a layup in the paint to give the visitors an 18-14 advantage. Two minutes later, Richardson scooped the ball home in the lane to make the score 20-19 in NCC's favor. Wheaton's defense then forced five consecutive empty possessions from the Cardinals to end the quarter, and a pair of free throws by
Kate Oliver gave Wheaton a 21-20 edge heading into the second frame.
The Cardinals scored from the foul line to tie the game on their first series of the second quarter, but Wheaton then mounted an eight-point run to earn some breathing room. Back-to-back layups from North Central's Natalie Stavropoulos put the game back in the balance, and the guests scored five unanswered around the halfway point of the frame to cut Wheaton's lead back down to one at 31-30.
Ellie Cassel soon contributed a well-timed three pointer to move the Thunder's edge back up to six points, but North Central refused to back down and found themselves down by just five heading into the final minute of the half. Once again, the Thunder stepped up defensively to deny the Cardinals on their final three possessions and tallied the last three points of the quarter to earn a 42-34 halftime lead.
After a slower start to the second half,
Annika Richardson opened the scoring with a shot from beyond the arc to stretch Wheaton's lead to 11. 40 seconds later, the Cardinals dropped in a three ball of their own, but this was as close as they came to mounting a third quarter comeback. The hosts managed to keep their suburban rivals at arm's length and came up with enough baskets to prevent the contest from being a true toss-up.
Anna Fernandez earned the final points of the quarter via a smart jumper in the paint to give Wheaton a 60-47 advantage heading into the final period. The fourth quarter followed a similar trajectory as North Central could only manage a one-point scoring advantage over their hosts in the ten minutes, and Wheaton's improved second half defense opened the door for an ultimately comfortable win.
The home side shot 38.6% from the floor on Wednesday night and crucially held the Cardinals to a mark of only 20% in the fourth quarter. North Central came into the game leading the conference in free throw percentage and they lived up to the billing, connecting on 19 of their 23 foul shots. But Wheaton earned 16 of their own to limit NCC's advantage from the line. The Thunder out-rebounded their opponents by a 47-38 margin and forced 15 turnovers. Wheaton controlled the paint tonight, winning the scoring battle by a margin of 16 in the area. They also held a sizable advantage in second chance points and earned edges in the fast break points and bench scoring categories.
Annika Richardson tallied 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a steal in a versatile showing.
Caroline Sikkink grabbed four boards and earned a takeaway in addition to her game-high point total. The freshman guard combo of
Anna Fernandez and
Kate Oliver each registered 12 points, and the former nabbed a game-high three steals along with seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
Caylee Hermanson had a Swiss army knife performance, going for four points, three assists, a joint team-high eight rebounds, and blocking one shot.
Ellie Cassel scored six points and also chipped in with eight boards and a block.
Lily Schwen contributed six points, four rebounds, a team-leading four assists, and two steals.
After five straight games inside friendly confines, the Wheaton women's team will look to stay in the win column when they travel to Kenosha this weekend. Their important conference matchup with Carthage is set to tip off at 2 PM on Saturday afternoon.
