FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 7-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team made program history on Wednesday evening at the Schaefer Center as they secured their first-ever Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) regular season championship as they defeated No. 19-ranked Lawrence Tech, 78-66.
 
It's the first time since the 1994-95 season when the Warriors won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference that Tech has stood atop the conference standings. The win also clinches the Warriors an automatic berth to the NAIA Division II National Championships.
 
Keanna Gary scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Haley Cook poured in 18 points and four assists. Kendall Knapke added 15 points and 12 rebounds while Rachel Bell chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.
 
The Warriors took a 6-3 lead in the opening 2:10 of the game, only to see the Blue Devils respond with a 15-3 run to take a 18-9 lead at the 4:11 mark. The Orange and Black snapped a 3:28 scoring drought with a jumper from Kauffman with 2:21 to play in the quarter, but the hosts ended the period trailing 24-14.
 
Lawrence Tech extended their advantage to 28-17 with four minutes gone in the second for their largest lead of the game, but the Warriors would slowly work their way back into the game. A three-pointer from Knapke started a 7-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 32-30 and the Orange and Black entered the locker room trailing 34-33 at the break.
 
Knapke started the second half with another triple to kick start an 8-0 run as the Warriors took a 41-34 lead at the 7:50 mark. LTU would not go away easily though, cutting the deficit down to 51-49 with under 30 seconds in the quarter, but Cook converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give Tech a 54-49 lead heading into the fourth.
 
The Blue Devils made it a six-point game 90 seconds into the final quarter of regulation and cut the deficit down to 61-56 with 7:16 to play in the game, but the Warriors used a 9-0 run to push the lead to 70-56 with 4:23 on the clock. Tech held on to their double-digit advantage for all but 64 seconds in the final six minutes though, as they held off the second-place team in the WHAC for their 18^th straight victory.
Tech (27-2, 18-1 WHAC) concludes the regular season Saturday as they travel to Concordia – Ann Arbor. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from the Concordia Gymnasium.