ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Defending CCIW champion Wheaton handed Augustana a 69-42 setback Saturday in the first official sporting event on the Rock Island campus in more than 10 months. The Thunder (1-0, 1-0) got a combined 37 points from veterans Hannah Swider and Hannah Williams and harassed the Vikings (0-1, 0-1) into 25 turnovers and .235 shooting from the field. Coach Mark Beinborn's club jumps right back into action on Monday, January 25, traveling to Elmhurst to face the Bluejays at 7:00 p.m.
 
A Chaadah Hodges (Miller Career Academy, St. Louis, Mo.) layup and a putback by Gabriela Loiz (Alleman HS, Davenport, Iowa) gave the hosts an early 4-0 advantage, but Wheaton responded with eight straight points and wouldn't trail again. A transition bucket by Swider gave the Thunder a 15-11 edge after one quarter.
 
The visitors opened things up with the first eight points of the second period. Annie Tate tallied the first six of those with a three-point field goal and a conventional three-point play. Freshman Hannah Simmer (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) hit her second trey of the half at the 3:39 mark to pull Augustana to within six (25-19), but Wheaton scored the last 13 points of the quarter to take a commanding 38-19 lead at intermission.
 
Williams opened the third period with a triple and the margin would dip under 20 points only briefly the rest of the way. A Swider trey made it 52-29 after three periods and her 21st and final point of the afternoon with 4:32 to play gave the Thunder its biggest lead at 65-36.
 
Williams (16) and Tate (11) joined Swider—who added a game-high four assists—in double figures. Tate and Zoe Nordling each grabbed seven rebounds.
 
Simmer's eight points led the Vikings, while Loiz and freshman Grace Nestich (Hobart HS, Hobart, Ind.) chipped in with seven apiece. Junior Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) and freshman Linnea Johansen (Parkway South HS, Manchester, Mo.) shared game-high rebounding honors with seven each.
 
Augustana hit 12 of 51 field goal attempts, including 5-17 (.294) from long range, and 13 of 20 (.650) from the foul line. Wheaton shot .373 from the floor on 28 of 75 and .200 (5-25) from three-point range. The Thunder converted eight of 13 (.615) free throws. The Vikings won the battle of the boards by a 49-44 margin, but committed 25 turnovers to just six for their guests.