Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team hosted the CCIW's second-place team, Carroll University (15-6, 10-2) on Saturday evening in King Arena. The Pioneers emerged with a 71-63 victory against the Thunder. Wheaton is now 11-10 overall and 6-6 in CCIW play as the Thunder sit in fifth place in the conference standings.

Annika Richardson again led the Thunder tonight with 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. The senior also added 12 rebounds. Katie Oliver scored 20 points for the hosts, on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. Oliver also grabbed eight rebounds, with six assists and she snatched two steals. Lily Caddow scored eight points with four rebounds. Grace Kizer collected six rebounds, while Alyssa Faberowski had four steals and four assists.
The Thunder posted a 39.1% (23-of-58) field goal percentage in the game, shooting 26.1% (6-of-23) from three-point range. Carroll shot 44.1% (26-of-59) from the field, including 42.1% (8-of-19) behind the three-point arc. Wheaton shot 84.6% (11-of-13) at the free throw line, while the Pioneers shot 78.6% (11-of-14) at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Pioneers 39-34, including a 12-9 advantage on the offensive glass. Wheaton's edge in offensive rebounding allowed the hosts to out-score Carroll 13-2 in second-chance points.   

Natalie Gricius led Carroll with 20 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. All-American Olivia Rangel tallied 16 points, with six assists and an impressive eight steals. Chloe Halverson scored 12 points with five rebounds.
Wheaton led for the entire first quarter. Wheaton's largest lead of the first quarter was a 13-5 with 3:35 left in the opening quarter as a Richardson layup gave Wheaton its eight-point bulge. Carroll closed in on Wheaton's lead in the final three minutes of the first period. The Thunder led 18-14 at the end of the quarter.

A Richardson jumper opened the second quarter scoring and sparked a 10-3 Thunder run. The Wheaton run gave the hosts a 28-17 lead with 6:05 left in the first half. This was the first of two 11-point leads for the Thunder in the second quarter, the largest lead of the game for either team. A Gricius layup with 4:30 left in the second quarter sparked a 17-6 Carroll run as the Pioneers tied the game at 36-36 with 45-seconds left in the first half. Oliver made a layup with 34-seconds remaining before halftime and then late in the quarter Alyssa Faberowski stole the ball and found a driving Oliver for a layup that gave the hosts a 40-36 lead as time expired in the first half.
Richardson led the Thunder with 15 first-half points, including 10 in the second quarter. She had six second quarter rebounds to grab seven boards in the first half. Oliver scored 12 points in the first half with two assists. Gricius led Carroll in the first half with 11 points, while Rangel had 10 points.

Carroll's Emilie Wizner made a three-pointer to open the third quarter to cut the Thunder lead to one point at 40-39 with 9:40 left in the third. Halverson made a three-pointer with 3:33 left in the third quarter to give the guests the lead for good as her trey gave the Pioneers 47-45 advantage with 3:55 remaining in the third. Halverson's trifecta sparked an 11-2 Carroll run as the Pioneers led 56-49 at the end of the third quarter.
Carroll maintained its lead throughout the fourth quarter. The closest Wheaton could get in the final quarter was a two-point deficit at 62-60 with 2:40 remaining in the game. Carroll closed out the game with a 9-3 run to secure the 71-63 victory.

Wheaton remains at home for its next contest as the Thunder host Augustana on Wednesday evening. The contest between the Thunder and Vikings will tip off at 7:00 p.m. in King Arena.

Note Worthy: Richardson moved into 12th place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list tonight as she now has 1,137 career points as she passed Brooke Olson (1,336) and Fran Barrett (1,119) in the game against Carroll...tonight's 23-point effort from Richardson, combined with her 36 points on Wednesday against Elmhurst gives the senior 59 points for the week as she moved up from 16th on Wheaton's all-time scoring list at the start of the week into her new spot at 12th.