FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 14-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team defeated Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) foe Madonna, 99-67, on Wednesday evening in their conference opener at the Schaefer Center.
 
Kendall Knapke led all scorers with a season-high 26 points on 9-12 shooting from the field and 5-7 from the three-point line while grabbing six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Keanna Gary notched her sixth double-double of the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds, both a season-high for the senior center who also had five assists and two steals. Haley Cook added 19 points and three steals while DeAnn Kauffman chipped in 12 points off the bench and Bella Lozano-Dobbs dished out five assists.
 
The two sides would be neck-and-neck through the first quarter, with the Warriors leading 12-7 at the 5:50 mark only to see the Crusaders go on an 8-3 run to tie the game up at 15 with 3:33 to go in the period. A fast break layup from Gary would spark a 11-2 run for the Orange and Black to end the quarter, with Lozano-Dobbs bringing the crowd to its feet with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Tech a 26-17 lead at the break.
 
The hosts would stretch their lead into double-digits for the first time with a jumper from Kauffman to start the second quarter and begin a 15-5 run for the 14^th-ranked team in the nation. Knapke would hit three three-pointers during that stretch to help the Warriors increase their lead to 19 at 41-22 with just over four minutes to go until halftime. A 10-2 run would close the quarter out for Tech as they took a 51-26 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
Back-to-back triples from Cook would extend Tech's lead to 33 points just four minutes into the third quarter while Cook, Gary and Knapke combined to score 21 of the team's 24 points in the period to give the hosts a 75-44 lead with just 10 minutes to go in regulation.
 
The Warriors would lead by as many as 40 points in the final quarter as they ended the night shooting 52.9% from the floor and 47.8% from downtown to open their conference slate on the winning side.
 
Tech (6-1, 1-0 WHAC) returns to action on Saturday as they host No. 22-ranked Siena Heights in a matchup of the projected top-two teams in the conference. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.