Wheaton, Ill. - In a back-and-forth game of momentum swings, Lindsey Brenneman's three-pointer in the final seconds gave the Wheaton College women's basketball team a 62-59 victory over Millikin University on Wednesday.
The Thunder improved to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in the CCIW. The Big Blue fell to 13-5 overall, 5-2 in conference.
"Every win in the CCIW is important," said Wheaton acting head coach Kent Madsen. "Obviously it makes it more special because it was against a team that only had one loss in conference. To be able to hold home court advantage is very important. I'm really pleased with the overall effort I got from every player in the game."
At the start of the night, both teams struggled with their offense as the score stood at 11-10 after the first 10 minutes. Wheaton got some good looks at the basket, but couldn't convert them into points.
On defense, the Thunder concentrated on fronting and doubling on Millikin's 6-foot-1 center Elise Wildman, who came into the game averaging 17 points. The Big Blue countered the hedges and double teams by making open jumpers from around the perimeter, including 5 of 10 from three-point range in the first half.
The last five minutes of the half turned into a track meet. Both teams went up and down the floor with urgency and started finding rhythm with their shots. The Thunder went into the half up 31-29.
Wheaton got off to a good start in the second half, opening up its largest lead of the game 40-31 in the initial five minutes. However, Millikin began to beat the fronting defense in the post and gained momentum with layups in the paint. A three-pointer by Julia Robert tied the score at 47-all.
From then on, momentum see-sawed as each team answered a big shot with another big shot. Good ball movement resulted in three-pointers by Brenneman and Laura Karsten that give the Thunder a 59-55 advantage with two minutes left.
The Big Blue went back to its most productive player down the stretch, forcing the ball in to Wildman on every trip down the floor. Her one-and-one free throws tied the proceedings at 59-59 with only 1:15 left. But a go-ahead three by Nikki Tipsword drew iron with 28 seconds left to give Wheaton the last shot of the game.
After killing some clock on the perimeter, point guard Brooke Olson drove the lane and attracted defenders to her. She then kicked out to the left corner to the waiting Brenneman, who swished the trey with a defender in her face with 2.3 seconds left on the game clock. A final three-pointer by Wildman missed wide and the Thunder clinched the victory.
Despite a rough first half, Brenneman regained her shooting stroke down the stretch to finish with a team-best 15 points. "Lindsey was struggling a little bit," Madsen said. "But shooters need to keep shooting - sooner or later they break out of it. She couldn't have hit a more clutch shot than that."
Following the big win, Madsen stressed that his team needed to continue to make strides in playing great team defense in order to keep beating conference foes. "When we play outstanding team defense, we always give ourselves a chance," Madsen said. "It's when we start playing individualized defense is when we struggle."
The Thunder shot 24 of 65 from the field (37 percent), 9 of 23 from three-point range (39 percent) and 5 of 6 from the free throw line (83 percent). Karsten added 15 points and five rebounds, Kelly Brooks netted 10 points in 10 minutes off the bench, and Olson finished with seven assists.
The Big Blue shot 20 of 48 from the field (42 percent), 8 of 23 from beyond the arc (35 percent) and 11 of 16 from the charity stripe (69 percent). WIldman's 18 points paced the team, Crystal Ziegler added eight points and 11 rebounds, and Julia Robert chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.
Millikin won the battle on the boards 39-30, but committed more turnovers (19-10).