Wheaton, Ill. – The No. four seed Wheaton women's basketball team utilized an impressive second half to defeat No. 5 seed Elmhurst University 70-57 on Tuesday night in a CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal contest. The Thunder (15-11) win against Elmhurst (16-9) advances Wheaton to a CCIW Tournament Semifinal matchup against No. 2 Carroll University on Friday at 5:00 p.m. at Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center in Bloomington.

Thunder sophomore Lily Caddow scored a career-high 20 points in an outstanding outing as she shot 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-for-5 from three-point range. Caddow also collected five rebounds. Junior Kate Oliver scored 18 points with eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots. Senior Annika Richardson scored 13 points, with eight rebounds and two steals. Senior Alexis Martin tallied seven points, and Alyssa Faberowski scored six points with eight rebounds and two steals.

The first quarter was tightly contested as neither team had a lead larger than two points in the first five minutes of the game. The Bluejays made a pair of free throws with 4:15 left in the opening quarter for a three-point lead at 8-5. Elmhurst's Sierra Gibson made two free throws to give her team its largest lead of the game at 12-7 with 20-seconds left in the first quarter. Faberowski drained a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the first quarter to trim the guests' lead to 12-10 at the end of the period.

The Bluejays led 16-11 when Wheaton's Jenna Hunter made a free throw and Caddow drained a three-pointer with 7:10 left in the second quarter to cut the Elmhurst lead to 16-15. Alexis Martin made a pair of layups as she gave Wheaton its first lead of the second quarter at 19-18 with 3:50 left in the first half. Elmhurst snapped a 21-21 tie with a 6-1 run to close out the second quarter as the Bluejays led 27-22 at the halftime intermission.
Caddow led Wheaton's first-half scoring with nine points, and she added three rebounds. Martin scored five points in the first half, and Oliver grabbed five rebounds. Kristin Bukata led Elmhurst in the first half with 11 points. Sierra Gibson and MC Brown each scored six points as five different Bluejays collected three rebounds apiece in the half.

Wheaton had a strong effort in the third quarter, out-scoring the Bluejays 19-7 in the period. Elmhurst's Cierra Steemer scored the first basket of the quarter to extend the guests lead to 29-22 within the first minute of the second half. Richardson made a three-pointer with 8:15 left in the third quarter to spark a 17-3 Wheaton run that gave the Thunder a 39-32 lead with 2:10 left in the third quarter. Richardson and Caddow each scored six points in the key Thunder run. The Thunder held a 41-34 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Richardson led all players in third-quarter scoring with eight points, as she single-handedly bested Elmhurst's seven points in the quarter. The Thunder senior added five rebounds in the quarter. Caddow added six points for the hosts.

Elmhurst battled back early in the fourth quarter to trim Wheaton's lead to one point at 45-44 with 6:20 left in the game. Wheaton held a one-point lead at 52-51 with 2:45 left in the game when Oliver (PICTURED LEFT) made a pair of free throws to extend Wheaton's lead to three points at 54-51. On Elmhurst's next possession, Richardson blocked an EU shot and collected the rebound. Oliver made a jumper on the ensuing possession to extend the Thunder lead to 56-51 with 2:10 left in the game.

Elmhurst responded with a basket on its next possession, but Faberowski made a pair of free throws on Wheaton's next possession to keep Wheaton's lead at five points with 58-53 score. Elmhurst missed a pair of field goal attempts on their next possession and Oliver took advantage with a layup to increase Wheaton's lead to 60-53 with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter. Elmhurst again missed a layup on the next Bluejays' possession and Oliver collected the defensive rebound. She passed the ball to Richardson for a three-pointer that essentially put the game away for the Thunder as the Richardson trey gave Wheaton a 10-point lead at 63-53 with 49-seconds left in the game. Oliver made six free throws in the final 45-seconds as Wheaton earned its spot in Friday's semifinals in Bloomington.

Wheaton was stellar offensively in the fourth quarter with a 61.5% (8-of-13) field goal percentage. Oliver scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to lead a Wheaton team that out-scored Elmhurst 29-23 in the final 10 minutes. Caddow and Richardson each scored five points to help the hosts' effort. Bukata led Elmhurst in the fourth quarter with 10 points and Cusack added seven points.

The Thunder compiled a 37.9% (22-of-58) field goal percentage in the game, shooting 28.6% (6-of-21) from three-point range. The Bluejays shot 30.6% (19-of-62) from the field, including 18.8% (3-of-16) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 64.5% (20-31) at the free throw line and Elmhurst had a 66.7% (16-of-24) effort at the charity stripe. Each team collected 43 rebounds in the game, with Elmhurst holding a 14-10 advantage on the offensive glass. Elmhurst committed 17 turnovers in the game as the Thunder out-scored the guests 19-8 in points off turnovers.

Bukata led all players in scoring as the Elmhurst guard scored 21 points in 39 minutes of action. MC Brown scored 10 points with 13 rebounds. Steemer scored eight points and Cusack added seven points.

Wheaton's matchup against Carroll on Friday will be the opening game of two semifinal games at the Shirk Center on Friday evening. No. 1 seed Illinois Wesleyan will face No. 6 seed Millikin on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the second semifinal game. Millikin earned a spot in the semifinals with a 63-57 upset against No. 3 seed Carthage in Kenosha in Tuesday night's other quarterfinal matchup. The winners of each semifinal on Friday will play in the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Game at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday in Bloomington. The winner of the championship game earns the CCIW's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.

Adult admission for this weekend's semifinals and championship game is $10. Admission for seniors (65+), students and children 6+ is $5. Children ages 5 and under are admitted for free. Current CCIW students are admitted for free with a current student ID from a CCIW member institution. No passes will be accepted for the tournament.