Kenosha, Wis. –The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team rolled to a 79-49 victory at Carthage College (9-15, 5-8 CCIW) on Saturday night. Wheaton made 14 three-pointers tonight to tie the program's single-game record for three-pointers, matching the 14 made in a win against Augustana on February 9, 2011 and in a victory against North Central on January 14, 2012.

Junior Chantal Meacham scored a career-high 26 points to pace the Thunder offense tonight. Meacham shot 9-of-15 from the field, including 8-of-13 behind the three-point arc as she established a career-best with eight three-pointers. Katie McDaniels scored 17 points with six assists and seven rebounds for the guests tonight. Sophomore Kelly Lawson scored 13 points with six rebounds and four assists. Mel Bremhorst scored six points, with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. NatalieRose Brogan registered six points with two assists for Wheaton.

Thunder head coach Kent Madsen noted after the game, "I thought we played much better in the second half tonight and the defense picked it up after halftime. Obviously Chantal hitting some big shots was a boost for us." He concluded, "I thought all of our guards played well tonight. They shot the ball well and we needed them to since Carthage played a zone the whole game."

Carthage jumped out to a short-lived lead in the first quarter of tonight's matchup as the Lady Reds led 9-5 in the first 3:30 of the game. Wheaton responded with a 15-4 run to close out the quarter as the Thunder led 21-13 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Wheaton led 39-27 at halftime in earning the 30-point win at 79-49.

Bailey Gilbert scored 16 points with four assists to lead Carthage tonight. Rachel Szydlowski scored 11 points with four rebounds and Morgan Vukovich tallied 10 points with four assists.

Wheaton registered a 45.2% (28-of-62) field goal percentage tonight, including 46.7% (14-of-30) behind the three. Carthage shot 38.8% (19-of-49) from the field, including 31.3% (5-for-16) from three-point range. Wheaton shot a perfect 100% (9-for-9) at the free throw line and Carthage had a 75% (6-of-8) effort at the charity stripe. Wheaton out-rebounded the Lady Reds 41-24 tonight, including a 14-4 edge on the offensive glass.     

The Thunder (18-5, 10-3 CCIW), currently ranked 25th in the D3hoops.com Top-25, will host Illinois Institute of Technology on Wednesday night for a non-conference matchup in King Arena for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. The Thunder will conclude the regular season next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against Augustana in King Arena for "Senior Night."

Wheaton remains tied for first place in the CCIW at 10-3 with Illinois Wesleyan. The Thunder will have an opportunity to earn at least a share of the CCIW Championship next Saturday against Augustana. If Wheaton wins against Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan wins its regular season finale against Elmhurst next Saturday both teams will earn a share of the CCIW Championship and Wheaton will be the top seed and tournament host of the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament on February 26-27 with Wheaton holding the tiebreaker against the Titans. If Wheaton defeats Augustana and Elmhurst defeats Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday the Thunder will hold outright possession of the CCIW and serve as the CCIW Tournament's top seed. If Augustana defeats Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan tops Elmhurst next Saturday the Titans will have sole possession of the CCIW Championship and host the CCIW Tournament. If both Wheaton and IWU lose next Saturday they will tie for the CCIW Championship and Wheaton will host CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament.