FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 3-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team made program history on Wednesday evening at the Schaefer Center as they overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat the University of Northwestern Ohio, 72-48, in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) and set a new program record with their 21^st consecutive victory.
 
Kendall Knapke scored a game-high 26 points, with 20 of those coming in the second half, and added six rebounds, four steals and two assists. DeAnn Kauffman collected 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks while Alexis Hill chipped in with 13 points, seven steals, three rebounds and two assists. Rachel Bell and Bella Lozano-Dobbs each had four assists while the former adding six steals and four steals while the latter had four points and three steals.
 
The quest for their 21^st straight win would not come easily for the Warriors as UNOH raced out to a 9-5 lead in the opening quarter. A 7-0 spurt from the Racers extended their advantage to 16-7 with 2:52 left in the first. Tech managed to keep the deficit in single digits for the rest of the period despite the visitors shooting 75% (9-12 FG) from the floor.
 
The Racers grew their lead to 11 points with a basket early in the second quarter, but the Warriors responded with a 13-2 run to tie the game up at 26-26. Knapke notched her first basket of the game with a triple at the 1:23 mark in the second to make it a 26-all contest. The Orange and Black would turn up the defensive intensity in the quarter by holding UNOH to just eight points on 4-11 (36.4%) shooting in the quarter, which included two scoring droughts over 2:45. After a layup from the Racers put them back ahead at 28-26, Lozano-Dobbs came right back with a layup to tie the game at 28-28 while a pair of free throws from Hill gave the Warriors a 30-28 halftime lead.
 
Hill started off the second half with a basket to propel the Warriors to an 11-2 spurt that put the hosts ahead 41-30 with 5:59 to play in the third. A three-point play from the Racers' Emily Patton cut the deficit down to eight points with 4:53 to go in the period, but that would be the closed UNOH would get the rest of the game as Tech ended the quarter on 14-2 run to put them ahead 55-35 at the end of 30 minutes of action. The Racers would not score a basket for the final 3:27 of the quarter while Knapke scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting (3-4 from three).
Tech continued to push the pace into the fourth quarter as they increased their lead to 28 points and didn't let the Racers get any closer than 20 as they capped the historic night with their 21^st consecutive victory.
 
Tech (22-1, 14-0 WHAC) returns to action on Saturday, January 26 as they host Madonna University in a conference matchup. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.