FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 13-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team came out on top in a Top 25 matchup with No. 14-ranked Siena Heights University, 84-70, Saturday afternoon in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play inside the Schaefer Center. The win moves the Warriors into a tie for first place in the conference standings with the Saints and snapped a 14-game winning streak for Siena Heights while giving them their first conference loss.
DeAnn Kauffman led both sides with a season-high 32 points, just one off matching her career-best while added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Emma Wolfe had 19 points, five assists and three rebounds while
Rachel Bell and
Kyra Whitaker each chipped in 11 points. Bell dished out 11 assists for her fourth double-double of the season and added seven rebounds and four steals while Whitaker had five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
The much-anticipated rematch between the two conference rivals lived up to the hype, with seven ties and seven lead changes between the two squads. Kauffman was the start of the show in the opening 10 minutes of the game, scoring 16 points in 6-9 shooting while going 4-6 from behind the arc. The 2019 All-American scored nine straight points for the Warriors at one point and hit a jumper in the paint with 18 seconds left in the quarter to give Tech a 26-21 lead at the end of the period.
The Saints would control most of the second quarter as they outscored the Orange and Black 21-12 in the stanza, with five of their points coming off second chance opportunities. An old-fashioned three-point play from Demi Russell, who finished the game with 22 points and nin rebounds, parked a 13-5 run for the Saints to close out the half and take a 42-38 lead into the locker room.
Tech got a spark from Kauffman again in the third quarter though as the senior captain added 10 more points to her stat line while the team shot 71.4% from the floor to outscore the visitors 25-13. After going back and forth through the first part of the period, the two teams found themselves knotted up at 51 with 4:09 on the clock. A fast break layup from Wolfe sparked a 7-0 run for the hosts though, who ended the quarter on a 12-4 spurt to hold a 63-55 advantage after 30 minutes of play.
The Saints could only cut the deficit to seven points in the final quarter while a three-pointer from Bell, her first of the season with the shot clock winding down at the 4:50 mark, pushed the lead back up to 10 points and started a 7-2 run for the hosts to make it a 78-63 game. Siena Heights cut the deficit back down to 10 points with 1:55 remaining in the game, but they would never threaten the lead again as the Warriors handed the Saints their first conference loss of the season with the 84-70 win.
Tech (18-4, 12-1 WHAC) returns to action on Wednesday, January 29 as they host Cornerstone University in a WHAC matchup. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.
