Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team battled No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday evening in a CCIW matchup in King Arena. The Titans rallied in the fourth quarter to escape Wheaton with the 77-71 victory, despite only leading for a cumulative four minutes and 11 seconds in the entire game. Wheaton is now 6-9 overall and 2-4 in CCIW play, while the Titans improve to 12-4 overall and 7-0 in conference play.
The Titans scored the first five points of the game in the first 35 seconds of the contest. The Thunder led 12-11 with 5:00 left in the first quarter. Petra Trumbach made a layup with 3:35 remaining in the quarter as she sparked a 6-2 Thunder run to close out the opening quarter as the hosts led 18-13 at the end of the quarter.

Lily Caddow made a turnaround jumper to open the second quarter, scoring an extend Wheaton's lead to seven points at 20-13. The Thunder continued to hold on to the lead for the second quarter as the hosts held a 33-29 advantage at halftime.

Caddow led all players in first-half scoring with 15 points as she shot 5-for-5 from the field. She also contributed three assists and two steals. Jenna Hunter added 11 first-half points. Trumbach led all players with seven rebounds, and she also had three assists. IWU's Sawyer White led the Titans with 13 first-half points and Ava Bardic contributed nine points.

The Thunder opened the third quarter with nine unanswered points to extend their lead to 42-29 with 7:40 remaining in the quarter. The 13-point bulge was the largest of the game for either team. The final four points of the run were the result of IWU turnovers that Wheaton capitalized on with layups. An IWU layup with 6:35 left in the third quarter sparked a 13-1 run for the guests as the Titans trimmed the Thunder lead to 43-42 with four minutes left in the third quarter. The Titans' run kept the contest close for the remainder of the game as the score was tightened 51-51 at the end of the third quarter.

Wheaton led 67-64 with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter when Bardic took a step back and made a jump shot that ignited a 9-2 IWU run and gave the Titans a six-point lead at 75-69. The run was enough for the Titans to earn the six-point win at 77-71. Oliver scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds in the second half. Bardic assisted the Titans' resurgence with 17 second-half points as she shot 8-for-11 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Caddow led the Thunder with 23 points, four assists and four steals. Hunter tallied 18 points with eight rebounds. Oliver recorded a 'double-double' with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Trumbach had nine rebounds, seven points and four assists.

Bardic led all players with 26 points and White added 25 points and five assists for the Titans.

The Thunder shot 50% (23-for-46) from the field, including 25% (3-for-12) from three-point range. The Titans posted a 40.8% (29-for-71) field goal percentage, including 28% (7-for-25) from three-point range. Wheaton shot 84.6% (22-for-26) at the free throw line, while the Titans had a 57.1% (12-for-21) effort at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Titans 39-33, however the guests had a 15-7 advantage on the offensive glass.  
Wheaton travels to Augustana on Wednesday night for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against the Vikings.