Waukesha, Wis. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team, ranked 14^th in this week's D3hoops.com Top-15 poll, earned a 66-55 victory at Carroll University on Saturday. Wheaton's win was the seventh-consecutive victory for the Thunder as the team improves to 9-1 overall (9-1 CCIW). Carroll is now 5-4 on the season (5-4 CCIW).

Wheaton was shorthanded in today's game with seven players dressed for the contest, due to Wheaton, CCIW and NCAA COVID protocols. All seven players received at least 12 minutes of playing time in the matchup with the Pioneers. Head coach Kent Madsen said of his Thunder squad, "They gave it all they had today. I am so proud of the team, their tenacity and will to win."

Sophomore guard Annie Tate tied her career-high with 31 points and she collected 12 rebounds to register her second career "double-double".  Tate made three three-pointers today and she snatched two steals. Senior Hannah Williams scored 15 points with three assists for the Thunder. Lily Schwen tallied nine points with three assists. Taylor Sanders grabbed eight rebound, scored six points and distributed three assists.

Wheaton posted a 39% (23-of-59) field goal percentage this afternoon, including 22.7% (5-of-22) from three-point range. The Pioneers shot 31.7% (19-of-60) from the field, with an 11.8% (2-of-17) effort behind the three-point arc. The Thunder shot 62.5% (15-of-24) at the free throw line and Carroll shot 60% (15-of-25) at the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 37-36 edge in rebounding, including an 11-10 edge on the offensive glass.

Carroll led the Thunder 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.

Carroll's Kayla Stefka scored the first points of the second quarter with a field goal to give the hosts their largest lead of the game with a four-point advantage at 15-11 with 9:14 remaining in the second quarter. The Pioneers held one other four-point lead in the quarter with a 17-13 advantage for the hosts with 7:45 remaining in the first half. At that point, Wheaton countered with an 8-3 run to give the guests a 21-20 lead with 4:30 remaining in the game. Freshman Ana Mooney started the Wheaton run on a three-pointer with 6:50 remaining in the second quarter. Wheaton led the Pioneers by one at 25-24 during the halftime intermission. Tate scored 13 first-half points with five rebounds.

Wheaton started the third quarter with an 8-2 run to extend its lead to 33-26 with 7:00 left in the third. Wheaton's largest lead of the third quarter was a 10-point bulge at 41-31 with 2:34 remaining in the third period. The Thunder led by seven points at 45-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

Wheaton continued to maintain a lead throughout the fourth quarter. The 11-point Thunder lead in the 66-55 final score represented the guests' largest lead of the afternoon. Tate scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and totaled 18 points in the second half, with seven rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Williams scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half today.

Elizabeth Behrndt led Carroll today with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Katie Rohner scored 15 points with six rebounds, four assists and two steals for the hosts.

Wheaton travels to North Central on Tuesday night for a matchup with the Cardinals at 7:00 p.m.