Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – In a battle between undefeated teams in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin on Wednesday, January 4, Wheaton won a turnover-plagued affair by a score of 80-69 over Augustana in the Carver Center. Both teams had unblemished league records heading into the contest but the visiting Thunder jumped out to an early lead and was able to fight off every Viking challenge.
 
It was a game filled with turnovers as the two teams coughed it up a total of 45 times with Wheaton turning it over 22 and Augustana 23.
 
An early 4-2 lead by the Vikings after a pair of Jennifer Van Watermeulen (United Township HS, Silvis, Ill.) free throws with the game barely two minutes old (7:44 left in the first quarter) was the only time all night that Augustana would enjoy an advantage. The Thunder promptly went on a 20-8 run to build a 22-12 lead just before the end of the first quarter.
 
The score was 42-31 at halftime and 60-50 after three quarters as the Vikings were unable to keep the deficit in single digits for any appreciable length of time. At the beginning of the fourth quarter a layup by senior Kaycee Kallenberger (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) off an assist from sophomore Meghan Stovall (Broomfield HS, Broomfield, Colo.) cut the lead to eight points (60-52) with 9:31 left. That was the last time Augustana had it under double digits for the remainder of the game.
 
Katie McDaniels led Wheaton in scoring with 19 points while Ellie Zeller scored 14 and Kelly Lawson had 12. Neither Devin Kyler (eight points) or Jill Berg (three points) were in double digits in scoring but each had 10 rebounds in the game. The Thunder was also helped out by a 17 of 22 performance from the free throw line.
 
Augustana got 16 points from sophomore Corrie Reiley (Prophetstown HS, Prophetstown, Ill.) and 13 each from Kallenberger and sophomore Izzy Anderson (Alleman Catholic HS, Rock Island, Ill.). Kallenberger had a game high 16 rebounds with three blocked shots and a steal. Anderson contributed four assists and three steals.
 
The Vikings were not helped in the first half by a .324 shooting performance (11-34) from the field and they also shot just .538 (7-13) from the free throw line.
 
Augustana is now 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the CCIW while Wheaton moved to 9-2 and 3-0. The Vikings will be in action again on Wednesday, January 11 at North Central in Naperville, Illinois.