Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team opened its 2023-24 season on Friday night with the first evening of action in the 2023 Beth Baker Classic. Wheaton (1-0) defeated Bethany Lutheran College 77-73. The Thunder will face UW-Oshkosh (1-0) on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. in the final game of the tournament. UW-Oshkosh defeated University of Dubuque 70-52 in tonight's opening game. Dubuque (0-1) and Bethany Lutheran (0-2) will play at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in King Arena.
Four Thunder players scored in double digits tonight in the victory against Bethany Lutheran, led by 17 points from
Caroline Sikkink who also grabbed six rebounds.
Annie Tate scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range.
Kate Oliver scored 16 points off of the Thunder bench.
Annika Richardson scored 10 points with 12 rebounds to tally a "double-double". Anna Mooney and
Alyssa Faberowski each scored six points for the hosts.
Lily Schwen recorded a game-high four assists.
Wheaton shot 37.9% (25-of-66) from the field, including 29.2% (7-of-24) from three-point range. The Vikings posted a 41.5% (22-of-53) field goal percentage, including 41.2% (7-of-17) behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 80% (20-of-25) at the free throw line and BLC shot 78.6% (22-of-28) at the free throw line. The hosts out-rebounded BLC 42-36, including an 18-12 edge on the offensive glass.
Wheaton had strong play in the first quarter as the hosts led 24-15 at the end of the first. Tate scored eight points in the opening quarter on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor with a 2-for-2 effort behind the three-point arc.
Bethany Lutheran chipped away at Wheaton's lead in the second quarter as Wheaton held a five-point lead at 37-32 at the halftime intermission.
BLC continued to battle in the third quarter as the score was tied at the end of the third period, 54-54. Oliver led the Thunder with six points in the third period.
The score was tied 69-69 with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter when Sikkink grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the put-back basket to give Wheaton a 71-69 lead. The Thunder never trailed after Sikkink's basket and earned the hard-fought win.
