Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder women's basketball team returned to King Arena this evening after three-straight road games hoping to get off the mark in conference play for 2023-24. The North Central Cardinals provided tonight's opposition, and Wheaton put in a strong first-half performance and withstood a late challenge from their visitors to pick up a 70-63 win. Saturday's victory marked the 31st-straight win over North Central for the women's basketball program and moves Wheaton's record to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in CCIW competition this year.
The senior duo of
Caroline Sikkink and
Annie Tate were once again key to the Thunder's success tonight, as both players registered double-doubles in the win. Sikkink led all players with 25 points and grabbed ten rebounds to go with her three assists. The Asheville, North Carolina native shot 59% from the floor and made all four of her free throws in her 39 minutes on the court. Tate scored 20 points, earned the Thunder's lone steal on Saturday, and brought down a game-high 14 rebounds, the third time in her career that she has hit the 14-boards mark.
Kate Oliver contributed nine points from the bench, and
Annika Richardson posted eight points with the same number of rebounds.
Lily Schwen led all players with five assists this evening.
As a team, Wheaton shot 48.3% from the field, and while the Thunder struggled from beyond the arc on Saturday, they connected on 11 of their 15 foul shots. The hosts limited North Central to a shooting mark of under 40% in the second half, and the Cardinals also had a poor night from the three-point line, making just four of their 22 attempts. Wheaton earned a decisive 47-30 rebounding advantage and won despite turning the ball over 23 times under sustained pressure from the North Central defense. The Thunder controlled the game in the paint, out-scoring their guests by 16 in the lane and by ten in second chance opportunities. North Central created edges in points off of turnovers, fast break points, and bench points, but these advantages were not enough to help the Cardinals pull the road upset and end their long losing streak against the Thunder.
46 of Wheaton's 70 points this evening came from inside the lane, and Sikkink got the hosts on the board from a layup in the paint. North Central claimed an early 5-2 lead, but this proved to be the last time the Cardinals had the advantage on the scoreboard. The Thunder mounted a 10-0 run to seize a 12-5 edge in the last two minutes of the opening quarter and led 13-9 heading into the second frame. Wheaton found its shooting grove in the second period, and were led by Tate (
pictured below), who scored 12 of Wheaton's 22 points in the quarter to help establish a 35-26 halftime lead.
The Thunder led by double-digits for most of the third quarter as North Central failed to generate momentum on both sides of the ball, and it appeared as though Wheaton would cruise to a straightforward win in the conference home opener. But the Cardinals engineered a valiant fourth quarter comeback attempt and trimmed their hosts' lead down to four points with just under four minutes remaining. A layup by Tate in the lane pushed the Thunder's edge back up to seven at 61-54 with less than three minutes to play, but North Central came up with five points on their next two possessions to make it a two-point contest with two minutes left on the clock. The Thunder's lead shrank all the way down to a single point with 1:15 left, but Oliver converted a clutch jumper from close range on the ensuing possession, and good defense by Wheaton forced a missed three-pointer on the Cardinals' subsequent trip down the floor. Oliver and Tate then combined to sink four free throws in the last 20 seconds, as North Central came up empty on their final three possessions to fall short of a surprising turnaround win.
After securing their first conference win of the year, the Wheaton women will look to maintain their unbeaten mark in King Arena this season when they welcome the Illinois Wesleyan Titans to town on Wednesday night.
