Box Score DETROIT, Mich. – It was a milestone night for
Rachael Kruse who scored her 1,000th career point as the Indiana Tech women's basketball team locked up the fourth seed in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament with a 95-53 victory over Marygrove on Wednesday at the NW Activities Center.
The Warriors (17-12, 14-7) led from the tip, starting the game on an 18-0 run and never looked back. Kruse's milestone came four minutes and eight points later as she hit a jumper at the 10:20 mark, her fifth and sixth points of the contest, putting her past 1,000 points. The senior wasn't done as she scored 11 more points in the period to help extend the first half margin to 30, 51-21.
Tech outscored Marygrove 18-10 in the paint, 14-4 in points off turnovers and 15-4 on the fast break. The Warriors also held a 24-19 margin in rebounds in the first half. Kruse led all scorers with 17 points and seven rebounds in the first half while Anastasia Smith paced the Mustangs with six points.
The Orange and Black started the second half as they did the first, outscoring the home team 11-0 to start the period, increasing the lead to 41, 62-21. Kruse, who only played nine minutes in the second half, scored six points in the period, not missing a shot in the period. The Warriors led by as many as 47 points twice in the second half, and ended the game on a
Shallante Clements layup for the 42-point, 95-53 victory.
For the game, the Warriors outscored the Mustangs 36-22 in the paint, 28-10 in points off turnovers and 15-10 in second chance points. Tech finished the game shooting 50 percent (30-for-60) from the field, 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from three and 71.8 percent (28-for-39) from the free throw line. The defense played well too, holding the Mustangs to 17-for-67 (25.4%) from the floor, 5-for-15 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 14-for-20 (70%) from the charity stripe.
Kruse finished the contest with 23 points, bringing her career total to 1,018, while also grabbing nine rebounds in 27 minutes of play.
Ulyssia Richmond added 21 points, leaving her four points shy of third all-time in school history.
Chelsea Carradine added 17 points and
Rayana Villalpando added 10 assists.
Raeha Weaver led the Mustangs with 14 points, the only Marygrove player to score in double-figures.
The Warriors return to the Schaefer Center for the regular season finale against Concordia on Saturday, Feb. 22. Tip is schedule for 1 p.m. with senior day festivities taking place before the contest.
