Olson has a game worth waiting for

Brooke Olson was killing time before the 6 p.m. start of the Wheaton women’s basketball team’s game against College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin powerhouse Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday when she decided she’d had enough.

“We had been waiting all day,” the Wheaton North graduate said Tuesday. “I told a teammate, ‘I wish the game was already over.’ ”

As it turns out, Saturday’s game was well worth the wait.

Wheaton earned a thrilling 76-74 double-overtime win over Illinois Wesleyan at home, handing the Titans their first conference loss this season and first in their past 15 CCIW games. Olson was the driving force, with 25 points -- including six 3-pointers on 6-of-12 shooting from deep -- to go along with 4 assists and 6 rebounds.

On Monday the junior guard learned that her offensive outburst earned her CCIW player of the week honors.

“That’s probably up there with one of the best games I’ve ever played in,” Olson said. “I’ve never had a game quite like that.”

Olson is averaging 10.6 points and 4.6 assists a game as Wheaton’s point guard this season. Her 25 points Saturday were a career high, besting her 21 points against Carthage last season.

In one second-half stretch, Olson kept Wheaton in the game with 12 straight points on three 3-pointers and three free throws. Her layup with seven seconds left to play in the first overtime tied the game at 68-68 and forced the decisive second extra period.

“She did exactly what we were trying to tell our players to do, having an attack mentality,” Wheaton coach Kent Madsen said.

But has Madsen ever seen Olson get that hot from outside?

“Maybe not quite that much,” he said. “But she has had games where she’s been hot before.

“It didn’t surprise me, that’s for sure.”

Olson might have surprised herself, but the Thunder is used to getting help from just about everywhere.

“In big games sometimes you just have to step up,” Olson said. “What’s nice about our team is the person who steps up is pretty much different every (game).”

Wheaton (13-6, 6-2) has won six consecutive games and will travel to play Millikin Wednesday before hosting Elmhurst at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday’s loss dropped Illinois Wesleyan to 14-5 with a 7-1 mark in CCIW play. The Titans fell out of the D3hoops.com Top 25 rankings but maintained a one-game conference lead over Wheaton, Elmhurst (15-4, 6-2) and Carthage (15-4, 6-2).

In other CCIW action Saturday, Elmhurst got 16 points and 11 rebounds from senior center Megan Ney (Glenbard North) and snapped a two-game losing streak with an easy 65-51 win over North Park (8-11, 2-6).

The Bluejays will host North Central (6-13, 0-8) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

North Central: Junior guard Derek Raridon (Neuqua Valley) scored 30 points and the North Central men#146;s basketball team shot 50 percent from the field in a 70-59 win over Elmhurst in Elmhurst Tuesday night.The Cardinals stayed atop the CCIW standings, holding off the Bluejays with six 3-pointers #8212; including 4 of 5 in the second half #8212; and a 20-of-22 performance at the free-throw line. Raridon went 11 of 12 from the line and 8 of 11 from the field to lead all scorers.North Central improved to 14-6 with an 8-1 mark in CCIW play. Elmhurst fell to 10-10 (4-5) despite placing three players in double figures.In other CCIW action Tuesday, Wheaton (16-4, 7-2) steamrolled Millikin 82-27 (1-19, 0-9) behind 17 points and four assists by senior guard Jeremy Pflederer. The Thunder will host Elmhurst at 8 p.m. Saturday.Augustana (16-4, 6-3) clipped Illinois Wesleyan (15-5, 6-3) 80-78, and Carthage (10-10, 4-5) got past North Park (5-15, 1-8), 87-80.Wrestling: Senior Andrew Zobac claimed the 141-pound individual title at the Wheaton College Pete Willson Invitational Saturday en route to earning CCIW wrestler of the week honors.Zobac earned three victories Friday, then completed his perfect 5-0 weekend on Saturday with a 19-9 major decision over Messiah#146;s Victor Bracey in the semifinals and an equally dominant 18-7 major decision in the championship match against Indianapolis#146; Justin Keiffer.That win was the 100th of Zobac#146;s career at North Central. He is 26-5 this season and needs just five more wins to move into the top 10 for career wins in program history.Men#146;s Track and Field: North Central continued its dominant start to the 2012 indoor season Tuesday, sweeping the CCIW#146;s athlete of the week awards. The announcements came on the heels of Saturday#146;s NCC Quadrangular in Naperville, which yielded the Cardinals#146; third consecutive meet victory to start the season.Sophomore pole vaulter Josh Winder earned field athlete of the week honors after winning Saturday#146;s pole vault with a personal best of 17 feet, 4frac12; inches.North Central#146;s 1,600-meter relay team of senior Dan Benton, sophomore Bai Kabba, and freshmen Mustapha Olaoye and Dionte Hackler shared track athlete of the week recognition. The four-man team set a facility record of 3 minutes, 16.62 seconds Saturday, turning in the fastest time in NCAA Division III this season by more than two seconds.