Cincinnati, Ohio – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team (0-1) opened its 2024-25 season on Friday evening with a non-conference matchup at Mount St. Joseph University (0-1). The Lions held off Wheaton's fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Thunder 57-48.

Junior Kate Oliver led all players with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field Oliver added nine rebounds and four assists. Annika Richardson scored nine points, with five rebounds and two steals. Freshman Grace Kizer scored seven points off the Wheaton bench. Alexis Martin grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for the guests.

The Thunder shot 31.1% (19-for-61) from the field, including 14.3% (3-for-21) from three-point range. The Lions posted a 38.6% (22-for-57) field goal percentage, including an impressive 46.7% (7-for-15) effort behind the three-point arc.
Anyiah Murphy led the Lions with 13 points, and Morgan Jenkins added 10 points with six rebounds and five assists. MSJ's Madison Drummonds collected a game-high 11 rebounds and Hailey Guingrich collected nine boards.
Each team made a field goal in the first 90-seconds as the contest was tied 2-2. However, the Lions then out-scored the Thunder 10-2 to take a 12-4 lead with 4:35 remaining in the opening quarter. The hosts led by eight points at the end of the first quarter with a 16-8 advantage.

The Lions held a double-digit lead for the majority of the second quarter, allowing MSJ to lead by 12 points at 32-20 at the halftime intermission. Oliver scored eight points in the second quarter on 4-of-6 shooting, as she was tied for the halftime scoring lead with 10 of Wheaton's 20 points at the halftime intermission.

Mount St. Joe led by as much as 20 points (44-24 with 3:38 left in the third) in the third quarter. The Thunder scored the final seven points of the third quarter to trim the hosts' lead to 14 points at 44-31 at the conclusion of the third quarter. Wheaton's 7-0 run was the result of a basket and free throw by Oliver and a pair of field goals by Lily Caddow.

The Lions continued to build on their lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarters as the hosts led 51-35 with 6:24 remaining the quarter, holding the 16-point lead. Mount St. Joseph led 53-38 with 4:10 remaining in the game when Alyssa Faberowski made a three-pointer that cut the hosts lead to 12 points at 53-41.

Faberowski's trey sparked a 10-4 run for Wheaton to close out the game. The Thunder got within seven points of the Lions at 55-48 with 2:00 remaining in the game. Jenkins made a pair of free throws with 15-seconds remaining in the game to account for the 57-48 final score. Oliver and Kizer each scored five points for Wheaton in the fourth quarter to aid in the Thunder rally.

Wheaton is off for one week until the Thunder return home to host the Beth Baker Classic next Friday and Saturday. Wheaton opens the tournament at 7:00 p.m. on Friday against Anderson University.