Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team picked up a key CCIW victory at home on Wednesday night at home against Millikin (8-16, 7-8 CCIW). The Thunder never trailed as the hosts defeated the Big Blue 64-53.
Tonight's victory assures Wheaton a spot in the upcoming CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament that begins on Tuesday, February 18. Wheaton's seed and opponent in the upcoming tournament will be determined following Saturday's final CCIW regular season games. Wheaton is now 13-11 on the year and is 8-7 in CCIW play.
Kate Oliver led the Thunder tonight with 24 points. The Thunder junior added six rebounds and three assists. Senior
Annika Richardson tallied 14 points with eight assists, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
Grace Kizer and
Lily Caddow each scored nine points with Kizer adding six rebounds and two assists.
Alyssa Faberowski led all players with 10 rebounds, and she added six points with four steals.
The Thunder shot 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field tonight, including 33.3% (5-of-15) from three-point range. Millikin posted a 33.3% (20-of-60) field goal percentage, including 26.1% (6-of-23) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton had a 75% (9-of-12) effort at the free throw line with a 70% (7-of-10) effort at the charity stripe for Millikin. The hosts out-rebounded the Big Blue 41-32 as Millikin had a 9-8 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton made the most of Millikin's 13 turnovers as the Thunder out-scored the Big Blue 18-8 in points off turnovers.
Wheaton jumped out to a 16-4 lead over the first 6:45 of the game. The hosts led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter. Caddow led Wheaton with seven points in the first quarter and Richardson added six points with four assists. Wheaton out-scored Millikin 12-0 in both points off turnovers and points in the paint in the opening quarter.
The Thunder led 27-13 with 7:00 left in the second quarter, however, the Big Blue put together as 10-2 run to trim Wheaton's lead to 29-23 with 2:15 left in the game. The hosts led 34-23 at the halftime intermission. Richardson led all players in scoring at halftime as she tallied 10 first-half points. Oliver and Caddow each had seven points in the first half. Faberowski grabbed six first-half rebounds. Emily Brenneisen led Millikin with seven first-half points.
The Thunder maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the third quarter. Wheaton led 44-33 with 4:05 left in the period when Brenneisen made a three-pointer that sparked a 9-2 Millikin run to close out the third quarter. Wheaton led 46-39 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Wheaton opened the fourth quarter with its own 9-2 run to build up a 14-point lead at 55-41 with 7:40 left in the game following a three-pointer by Faberowski. A Caddow layup gave Wheaton a 59-46 lead with 4:26 left in the game, but Millikin continued to battle with a 7-0 run that trimmed Wheaton's lead to 59-53 with 2:29 left in the game when Wheaton took a timeout. The two teams traded possessions without a basket after the timeout, but Oliver made a key layup with 1:36 left in the game to put Wheaton up 61-53. Oliver then made three of four free throw attempts in the final 50 seconds to close out the game with a 64-53 win. Oliver scored 13 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter tonight. She scored 13 points of Wheaton's 18 points in the quarter as the Thunder out-scored Millikin 18-14 in the final period. Oliver shot 4-for-5 from the field in the fourth quarter, and she was 4-of-6 at the free throw line.
Wheaton closes out the regular season on Saturday in a 5:00 p.m. tipoff at home against North Central. Prior to tipoff, the team will honor its three seniors: Richardson,
Alexis Martin and
Keara Caragher for "Senior Night" activities.
