Dance Party Part II

The last time both Wheaton basketball teams made it to the NCAA tournament in the same year, they were still called the Crusaders, Y2K was causing mass panic, and Wheaton students were not allowed to dance. That was 14 years ago. The no-dancing policy has since been lifted, and the Thunder men’s and women’s basketball teams are both headed to the “Big Dance”: the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

The storied careers of Wheaton’s trio of senior guards — Jenn Lee, Breanna Bohlen and Brooke Olson — will have one more chapter. After leading her team to a 22-5 record, Olson and the rest of the Thunder women will be playing in their first national tournament, as an at-large bid gave Wheaton its first tournament berth since 2007.

“Tournament time is always fun. It’s win or go home, and I love that,” Olson said.

The Illinois Wesleyan Titans (18-8, 11-3 CCIW) entered the CCIW tournament having had won each of the past five tournament championships, but the Thunder completed the three-game season sweep and dethroned the defending national champions with a 62-59 victory on Friday, Feb. 22.

Wheaton controlled the game for most of the first half, as a three by Olson at the 17:09 mark gave the Thunder a lead that they would hold for the remainder of the period. A strong performance on the offensive glass helped Wheaton get out to a double-digit lead with 42 seconds remaining until halftime, but a buzzer-beating jump shot by Illinois Wesleyan’s Colleen McMahon ended a 9-0 Thunder run and made the score 28-19 at the break. Wheaton brought down 32 rebounds in the first half, 16 of which were on the offensive end.

Wheaton maintained the advantage until Lexi Baltes’ layup knotted the score at 41-41 with 11:56 remaining. From that point forward, it remained a one-possession game, with six lead changes and four ties in the final nine minutes of action. Facing a two-point deficit with 1:21 left on the clock, Olson took over. With a hand in her face, the Wheaton legend pulled up and knocked down a go-ahead three to give her team a 58-57 lead at the 1:12 mark. It was Olson’s 64th three-pointer this season, and it broke the Wheaton record for three-point field goals in a season.

Two free throws by McMahon on the following Titans possession gave the lead back to Illinois Wesleyan, but Olson would not be denied. With 35 ticks remaining, she stepped up and nailed another three from well behind the line. Lee thwarted the Titans’ efforts to tie the game, as she drew an offensive foul on McMahon with 11 seconds to go. After being fouled immediately on the ensuing inbounds pass, Lee made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 62-59.

Junior post Maris Hovee blocked Katy Seibring’s three-point attempt as time expired, sending the Thunder on to the CCIW championship game against Carthage College.

Olson’s two clutch threes kept her team’s season alive, as a loss in the first round of the conference tournament would have likely eliminated the Thunder from contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

“We have challenged Brooke to always look to be a scoring threat,” Assistant Coach Sarah Harris said.

Olson was indeed a scoring threat against the Titans. She scored a game-high 23 points, 21 of which came from her seven three-pointers. Freshman post Hannah Considine added 12 points, and Hovee grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked five shots and had three steals to go along with her nine points.

The win advanced the Thunder to the CCIW championship game, where they fell to host Carthage (23-4, 13-1 CCIW) in Kenosha, Wis. by a score of 61-52 on Saturday, Feb. 23. After losing by 32 in their first trip to Kenosha, the Thunder women battled throughout the game and gave the Lady Reds all they could handle. The Thunder held a lead as late as the 8:17 mark, when the score was 41-40 in favor of Wheaton, but Carthage pulled away late to earn a nine-point victory and clinch the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Olson led the team with 10 points, while Hovee, Considine and freshman guard Ellie Zeller each finished with nine. Hovee led the team with 15 rebounds and five blocks, giving her 29 boards and 10 blocks for the tournament.

The CCIW All-Conference teams and awards were announced just prior to the tip-off of the CCIW tournament. Olson was a unanimous first-team pick, Bohlen was named to the second team and Hovee was selected to the third team. Considine earned the first ever CCIW Newcomer of the Year Award. Olson — who is now in the top 10 in program history in career points, assists, steals, three-pointers and free throws made — is not concerned with the all-conference selection or any individual accolades.

“Brooke Olson would trade a win in the win column for any individual trophy or award that she will receive,” Harris said. “That kid loves to compete.”

None of the players on the current Wheaton roster have ever played in the NCAA tournament, but they knew that they had a chance after winning 22 games this year, including three against the defending national champions.

“Getting to the national tournament would be awesome,” Olson said following the win over Illinois Wesleyan. “We’ve worked hard for it, and we deserve it.”

The team’s hard work was rewarded by the NCAA. The national tournament pairings were revealed on Monday, Feb. 25, and the Thunder were matched up with the regional hosts, the Hope College Flying Dutch (26-1). The Dutch are ranked second in the nation by d3hoops.com, but Olson believes that they can pull off the upset.

“Our team is, without a doubt, capable of beating Hope at their place. We have a lot of young players that can step up and a lot of older players that have good experience,” Olson said. Head Coach Kent Madsen regularly plays four freshmen and three seniors.

Wheaton will face Hope tonight, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in Holland, Mich. If they win, they will advance to the second round tomorrow night. Every Wheaton tournament game can be heard live on WETN 88.1 FM radio or online at www.wetn.org.