Wheaton, Ill. - A late fourth quarter run gave the Thunder women's basketball team a key CCIW victory over second place Elmhurst on Saturday night. Entering the night in a first place tie with Illinois Wesleyan just half a game ahead of Elmhurst, Wheaton rode a balanced scoring effort to a 78-67 victory as five players scored in double figures. Wheaton improves to 16-4 overall and 9-2 in CCIW play. Elmhurst dropped its second straight game after winning eight straight to fall to 16-5 and 8-4 in the CCIW. Wheaton will host another key CCIW matchup on Wednesday night when the Thunder welcome Augustana to King Arena.

Wheaton shot 50% (32-64) from the field despite struggling to just 18.2% (2-11) from the three-point line. Wheaton was 60% (12-20) at the free throw line. Elmhurst shot 39.3% (22-56) from the field and 40% (6-15) from the three-point line. The Bluejays shot 85% (17-20) at the charity stripe. Wheaton won the rebounding battle 41-32 including a 12-7 edge in offensive rebounds.

Wheaton got off to a quick start in the first quarter, scoring the first six points of the game including a pair of lay-ups by Kelly Lawson. A pair of driving lay-ups by Katie McDaniels and an Ellie Zeller lay-up pushed Wheaton's lead to 16-7 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. Elmhurst would chip into the lead at the free throw line to get within 21-14 at the end of the quarter.
 
Elmhurst used the three-pointer to stop Wheaton from pulling away in the second quarter. Wheaton pushed the lead into double digits on several occasions with the Bluejays answering with a triple. Elmhurst looked to cut the lead to seven in the closing seconds of the half but Katie McDaniels raced the ball downcourt and found a streaking Devin Kyler who tipped the ball in at the buzzer to give the Thunder a 40-31 halftime edge.
 
Wheaton stretched the lead again early in the third quarter but it was a 12-2 Thunder run over a five-minute stretch in the middle of the quarter that finally gave the hosts some separation. Trailing 56-38 with just over two minutes left in the quarter, Elmhurst closed the quarter on an eight-point run to get back within 56-46 at the end of the third quarter.
 
​Elmhurst continued their run, opening the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to run the scoring streak to a 11 points. A pair of Maggie Dansdill free throws stopped the Elmhurst run and started a seven-point Thunder run that pushed the lead back to 63-49. Elmhurst cut the lead back to seven points at 67-60 on a three-pointer by Kaela Jones but Ellie Zeller's putback preceded an emphatic block by Devin Kyler to regain the momentum for the hosts. Zeller's putback started a ten-point Wheaton run to make it 76-60 with 1:20 to play. Zeller (PICTURED RIGHT) scored six of Wheaton's ten points on the run to help Wheaton pull away for the 78-67 victory.

Katie McDaniels led a balanced scoring effort with 16 points and five assists. Devin Kyler recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Chantal Meacham scored 13 points, Ellie Zeller finished with 12 points and Maggie Dansdill added 11 points with five assists and four steals.