Wheaton, Ill. - Facing its biggest deficit of the game in the middle of the second half, the Thunder women's basketball team turned in one of their most impressive stretches of the season. After a 7-0 North Central run gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the night at 12 points, Wheaton ran off a 16-0 run in just four minutes to take a five-point lead. A subsequent 10-0 run pushed the lead into double digits and Wheaton rolled to a 92-80 victory over North Central to capture its first CCIW Tournament Championship since 2007. With the win, the Thunder tied a single season record for wins by improved to 24-3 on the season. North Central fell to 22-5 on the season. The win was Wheaton's 13th straight over the Cardinals.

Wheaton shot 48% (36-75) from the field including a blistering 57.1% (20-35) in the second half. Wheaton made six-of-13 (46.2%) three-point attempts and shot 77.8% (14-18) from the free throw line. North Central shot 37.6% (32-85) from the field but made just 20% (9-45) of their three-point attempts. The Cardinals also shot 77.8% (7-9) from the free throw line. Wheaton outrebounded the Cardinals 53-41 including a 29-15 edge in the second half. Both teams grabbed 16 offensive rebounds. Wheaton recorded 29 assists while turning the ball over 19 times. North Central had 18 assists and 18 turnovers.

Wheaton jumped out to a a quick 19-5 lead in the first five minutes behind eight points from Ellie Zeller (PICTURED RIGHT) and six points from Hannah Considine. North Central countered with nine straight points and extended to a 16-2 run to tie the game at 21 at the 11:27 mark of the first half. A three minute scoring drought late in the first half allowed North Central to score seven straight points to push the lead to nine at 39-30 with 5:46 left in the half. A three-point play by Katie McDaniels with eight seconds left in the half cut the lead to seven but a late putback by Tess Godhardt gave North Central a 46-37 halftime edge.

A Zeller three-pointer and a Considine lay-up brought Wheaton back to within five points but North Central responed with a 7-0 run to push the lead to 56-44. Godhardt answered another Zeller three with a lay-up to keep the lead at 11 until the Thunder run began. McDaniels brought the crowd to its feet with a three-pointer to cap a series that included a pair of offensive rebounds. Zeller then scored the game's next nine points including a baseline jumper with 13 minutes to play that gave Wheaton a 59-583 lead. Katie McDaniels capped the run with four straight points to make it 63-58 at the 12-minute media timeout.

Jamie Cuny kept North Central in the game until a 10-0 run by Zeller and Considine pushed the Thunder lead to 77-64 with 6:42 to play. A Considine lay-up gave Wheaton its biggest lead of the game at 81-66 but seven unanswered points by the Cardinals cut the lead down to 81-73 with 4:54 to play. The lead would get down to six following a Jamie Cuny three-pointer with 3:08 remaining but lay-ups by Considine and McDaniels (PICTURED LEFT) pushed the lead back to 10 and allowed Wheaton to run out the clock on the 92-80 victory.

Hannah Considine led the Thunder with game-highs of 33 points and 16 rebounds in a double-double effort. Ellie Zeller scored 29 points with eight rebounds and four steals. Katie McDaniels capped an outstanding weekend of play with 14 points and eight assists. McDaniels finished the weekend with 29 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds and just two turnovers in two games. Kelly Lawson had seven rebounds to go with five assists.

Wheaton will await its postseason fate until 1:30 PM (CST) when the NCAA unveils the brackets for the NCAA Tournament. Follow the Thunder on Twitter and Instagram (@Wheaton_Thunder) for updates regarding Wheaton's postseason draw.

Note Worthy: With her 29 points tonight, Ellie Zeller moved past Heather Pancake and Amie Karkainen to tie Julie Schmela for 18th place with 969 career points...Considine's 33 points moved her past Jenna will into 32nd on the all-time scoring list with 752 points...McDaniels also moved past Brittany Cooper into sixth on the career free throws list.