Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team hosted Concordia University (Wis.) on Friday evening in a non-conference matchup. The Thunder closed out the Falcons (4-5) for a 59-49 victory in King Arena. Wheaton improves to 7-3 on the season as the Thunder are now off until a two-game trip to California at the end of the month. Wheaton will face Pomona-Pitzer on December 29 followed by a contest at Claremont-Mudd Scripps on December 30.

Annie Tate led the Thunder with 16 points tonight. The Thunder senior added seven rebounds, with two assists. Annika Richardson scored 11 points, with 10 rebounds to tally her second "double-double" of the season and fourth of her career. Richardson drained a game-high three three-pointers tonight.

Lily Schwen scored nine points for the Thunder, with a game-high six assists. Schwen led all players with three steals, and she collected four rebounds. Kate Oliver scored nine points, with six rebounds. Oliver added two blocked shots, two steals and two assists.

Wheaton posted a 32.2% (19-of-59) field goal percentage tonight, including 36.4% (8-of-22) behind the three-point line. The Falcons shot 33.3% (19-of-57) from the floor, including a 0-for-9 effort from three-point range. Concordia out-rebounded the Thunder 45-38, including a 15-13 advantage on the offensive glass.

Wheaton took control early in the game as the hosts jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first 5:30 of the contest. The Falcons chipped away at Wheaton's lead in the final 3:10 of the first quarter, cutting Wheaton's lead to 19-11 at the conclusion of the first period.

The Thunder led 28-20 with 3:20 left in the second quarter when Concordia's Erin Viergutz made a layup to start a 6-1 CUW run to close out the second half as the guests trimmed Wheaton's lead to three points at the halftime intermission as the Thunder led 29-26.

Richardson led the Thunder in first-half scoring with eight points and Tate had six rebounds. Viergutz led all players at halftime with 10 points and Jayden Ross added eight points for the guests.
The Falcons made the first basket of the second half, to cut Wheaton's lead to one point at 29-28. However, Tate responded with a layup and a three-pointer to extend Wheaton's advantage to 34-28 with 6:00 left in the third quarter. Wheaton held a four-point lead at 41-37 at the end of the third.

Concordia continued to battle in the fourth quarter and the Falcons tied the game for the first time as Viergutz made a put-back basket with 2:13 left in the game to tie it up at 47-47. Concordia took a timeout following the basket and on Wheaton's next possession, Schwen made a huge three-pointer to give the hosts a 50-47 lead with 2:03 remaining in the game. Following a CUW miss on the ensuing possession, Richardson drained a three-pointer to extend Wheaton's advantage to 53-47 with 58-seconds left in the game. Concordia turned the ball over on their next possession and Schwen made a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 55-47 lead with 53-seconds left in the game. The Falcons made a layup on the possession that followed, but Tate and Richardson each made a pair of free throws in the final 37-seconds of the game to give Wheaton the 10-point win at 59-49.

Viergutz led the Falcons with a game-high 20 points and 17 rebounds off of the Concordia bench. Aubrey DeBauch scored 12 points with five rebounds. Jayden Ross tallied 11 points with seven rebounds.