Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton College women's basketball team heated up from long range and closed out its home schedule with an 80-63 win over Augustana College on Tuesday.
The Thunder (18-7 overall) finished the conference season with an 11-3 mark, including a 7-0 record at home. Wheaton will next face Carthage College in a CCIW Tournament semifinal at 5 PM on Friday in Bloomington.
Wheaton held the lead for much of the first half and was up 26-22 with six minutes left. A scoring series of three buckets in the paint and a three-pointer gave the Thunder a 35-24 advantage that they would not relinquish.
Laura Karsten filled the scoresheet in the first half with seven points, six assists and five rebounds in the opening stanza. Lindsey Brenneman was also effective with 10 points as Wheaton hit 5 of 8 from three-point territory.
The hosts came out firing after halftime, hitting four straight treys to go up 49-26 in the first three minutes of the half. Wheaton controlled the rest of the game and led by at least 16 points for the duration. In total, the Thunder made 13 of 20 from long distance (65 percent), whch marks the seventh game this year the team has made at least nine three-pointers.
Wheaton shot 26 of 56 on the game (46.4 percent), including 15 of 21 from the charity stripe (71.4 percent). Karsten finished with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Brenneman scored 17 points and dished out five assists. Brooke Olson and Breanna Bohlen each chipped in 10 points.
Augustana ended its season at 11-14 overall, 3-11 in the CCIW. Natalie Runge was the leading scorer with 26 points on 11 of 16 shooting. The Vikings hit 22 of 56 from the field (39.3 percent), 2 of 8 from three-point range (25 percent) and 17 of 25 from the line (68 percent).