Bloomington, Ill. -- After spending last weekend away from the court, the Wheaton women's basketball team returned to the conference rotation this evening with a trip to central Illinois to take on the CCIW-leading Illinois Wesleyan Titans. Wednesday's contest marked the start of a tough three-game stretch for the Thunder on paper, and the 14th-ranked team in the country never trailed tonight en route to a 78-57 home victory. Wheaton's season record is now 11-9 and the team is 4-7 in CCIW action, as the Thunder remain in the hunt for a conference tournament berth.

Jenna Hunter got Wheaton on the board to tie the score at 2-2 with a layup in the lane, but the Titans raced out to a 9-2 advantage, and the visitors were forced to play catch-up from that point on. IWU enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the first quarter and led 25-15 at the end of the frame even after a pair of three-pointers from Kate Oliver and another paint layup by Annie Tate. Tate then trimmed the deficit down to eight points at 37-29 with just over two minutes to play in the half, but Illinois Wesleyan logged the final five points to build a 42-29 halftime disparity. The nationally-ranked hosts began the third quarter on the front foot and scored the first eight points following the intermission to balloon their scoreboard advantage up to 21 points and put the contest out of reach. The Titans never allowed Wheaton to get closer than 12 points in the second half and displayed why they are one of the favorites to claim the CCIW regular season title in 2023-24. 

The Thunder posted a better field goal percentage than their hosts on Wednesday at a 40.7 - 39% margin, in large part due to an impressive 7-11 total from the floor in the third quarter. But IWU sank ten three-pointers and made 14 of its 15 foul shots to earn advantages in those categories. Wheaton also out-rebounded the Titans, 40-36, while Illinois Wesleyan won the turnover battle by forcing an impressive 28 takeaways. The two sides were relatively even in their second chance points and points off the bench figures, but the home side created mismatches in the other box score stats that allowed for the final outcome.

Tate led Wheaton in scoring tonight with 16 points to her name and also gathered in four rebounds. Hunter had another solid performance from the start on Wednesday, going for 14 points, three boards, two steals, no turnovers, and a 7-8 shooting total. Oliver and Annika Richardson each contributed nine points, while the former led the team in rebounds with seven and blocked shots with two while also dishing out four assists, and the latter collected six boards and two assists.

The road ahead does not get much easier for Wheaton, as the Thunder's next two games are against the other sides at the top of the CCIW standings. #15 Millikin University comes to King Arena on Saturday evening, before Wheaton heads north to Waukesha to face the 20th-ranked Carroll Pioneers a week from tonight.