Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's basketball team earned a CCIW road win at North Central College (7-12, 4-6 CCIW) on Saturday night. The Thunder never trailed in tonight's contest as the guests earned the 77-56 victory. Wheaton returns to King Arena next Wednesday night for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against Carthage.

Caroline Sikkink led all players with a game-high 21 points tonight. She also grabbed nine rebounds, with three assists, two steals and two blocked shots in a well-rounded performance. Senior Hannah Swider scored 13 points for the guests. Annika Richardson and Ellie Cassel each scored 11 points for Wheaton. Cassel grabbed eight rebounds, while Richardson collected seven boards, with three assists. Lily Schwen distributed a game-high five assists for the Thunder.

Wheaton recorded a 43.1% (28-of-65) field goal percentage, including 22.2% (4-of-18) behind the three-point arc. The Cardinals shot 30.5% (18-of-59) from the field, including 15% (3-for-20) from three-point range. Wheaton out-rebounded the hosts 49-37, including a 12-9 edge on the offensive glass. Wheaton's offensive rebounding allowed the guests to a 15-4 advantage in second-chance points.

Jessica Kowalczyk scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Cardinals. Allison Pearson scored seven points for the hosts and Mitrese Smith scored six points.

The Thunder led 18-15 at the end of a tightly contested first quarter.

Wheaton held a narrow one-point lead at 18-17 with 7:04 left in the second quarter when Sikkink recorded an 'old-fashioned' three-point play to spark a 13-2 run that extended the guests' advantage to 31-19 with 1:00 left in the second quarter. Sikkink and Cassel each scored five points to account for 10 of Wheaton's 13 points in the run. The Thunder led 32-20 at the halftime intermission.

The Thunder continued the strong play into the second half as Wheaton led by much as 17 points in the third quarter. The 17-point edge occurred twice in the third, the final time was a 50-33 Thunder lead with 3:27 left in the third.

Wheaton led my as much as 26 points in the third quarter when Taylor Sanders registered an 'old fashioned' three-point play with 3:13 remaining in the game.