Wheaton, Ill. -- Three weeks after its last CCIW game, the Wheaton women's basketball team began its conference slate in the new year with a matchup against third-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University in King Arena. Saturday's contest was a competitive one, but the visiting Titans used a strong second half to eventually claim a 59-45 victory and move to 13-0 and 4-0 in CCIW action. This evening's defeat marked Wheaton's first home loss of the season, and the Thunder are now 7-6 on the year and 2-2 in conference play.
IWU jumped out to a 5-0 lead as the hosts came up empty on their first four possessions of the game, but Wheaton moved in front at 6-5 thanks to an
Annika Richardson layup in the lane four minutes in. Another basket in the paint from
Jenna Hunter gave the Thunder their largest advantage of the night at 10-6 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Titans responded with a 6-0 run, but Wheaton tied the game at 12-12 with the final points of the period. The home side again moved ahead by four via 16-12 and 22-18 leads, but their unbeaten opponents prevented the Thunder from creating permanent separation on the scoreboard and were able to come up with answers on the offensive end despite an uncharacteristically poor shooting night. Three minutes of scoreless basketball saw Wheaton maintain a 22-18 edge as the first half wound down, but IWU sank the last two baskets of the second frame to level the contest at 22 points apiece heading into the break.
The third quarter of tonight's game was the highest scoring period for both sides, and a tough layup in the paint by
Alyssa Faberowski gave Wheaton a 30-26 advantage four minutes into the frame. But the Titans reeled off a 7-0 run over the next three minutes, and Illinois Wesleyan would hold the lead for the remainder of the game. Another layup from Hunter temporarily halted this scoring streak, but IWU answered with a 9-0 surge to build its first double-digit cushion of the contest at 42-32. Wheaton registered the last two scores of the third frame and did well to push the Titans to the end, even drawing back within five points midway through the fourth quarter. Illinois Wesleyan was too strong down the stretch, however, and executed another 9-2 run either side of the three-minute mark in the final period to pull away for good and remain perfect on the season.
Wheaton posted a 36.2% shooting mark for the game and impressively held a high-scoring Illinois Wesleyan team to a meager 32.8% figure from the floor. The Thunder made just one of their 12 three-point attempts tonight, however, and IWU had to settle for five conversions on 25 tries from range. The hosts only took six free throws in the 40 minutes of play, while the Titans shot 59% from the line. Illinois Wesleyan won the rebounding battle by a decisive margin on Saturday thanks to its 20 offensive boards, but the two sides were virtually tied in steals and Wheaton posted four blocks to IWU's two. The Thunder enjoyed more scoring from their substitutes than the Titans did this evening, but the visitors owned the fast break points and points off of turnovers categories.
Richardson led Wheaton in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots tonight. The senior posted 12 points, eight boards, blocked two Titan attempts, came away with three steals, and dished out a pair of assists in an all-around performance.
Kate Oliver notched ten points, five rebounds, and two assists, while Faberowski matched her on ten, grabbed four rebounds, and led all players with four takeaways.
Petra Trumbach chipped in with five points and four boards off of the bench and sank the team's lone three-pointer this evening.
After beginning their 2025 slate, the Thunder have the upcoming midweek slot off and will return to play next Saturday afternoon at Carroll University.
