FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 12-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team defeated Concordia University, 81-68, Saturday afternoon in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play inside the Schaefer Center. The victory extends the Warriors winning streak to 13 games and reduces their magic number to one in order to clinch the WHAC regular season title.
 
Kyra Whitaker had a team-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. DeAnn Kauffman had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals while Emma Wolfe had 14 points and seven rebounds. Emma Tuominen had 11 points and three rebounds off the bench while Rachel Bell had 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
 
Tech started off the game on a 9-2 run, with Whitaker knocking down two triples and Wolfe also connecting from long distance. The Warriors pushed their lead up to 14 points thanks to a 9-0 spurt to make it an 18-4 game at the 3:06 mark of the first quarter. The Cardinals managed to cut the lead in half over the last three minutes of the period though and trailed 23-16 at the break.
 
Concordia started off the second quarter on a 6-0 run to bring the deficit down to one points while a three from Averi Bebble knotted the game up at 25 with 6:11 to play in the first half. The visitors would take the lead following a 6-2 run to make it a 31-27 game at the 3:53 mark, with reigning WHAC Player of the Week Tris'styn Williams scoring four of her game-high 19 points during the run while Katie Snow scored two of her 18 points to start the spurt. A pair of free throws from Whitaker sparked a 14-5 run though over the final three minutes of the quarter to give the Warriors a 42-36 lead the half, with Kauffman converting an old-fashioned three-point play with less than a second on the clock.
 
Tech quickly pushed its lead back into double digits with back-to-back baskets from Alexis Hill and Bell to start the second half, but the Cardinals trimmed the deficit back down to four points at 48-44 thanks to an 8-2 run. Back-to-back layups from Hill started a 9-3 run that was capped by five straight points from Wolfe to make it a 59-48 game while Tech entered the final quarter of regulation leading 60-55.
 
Concordia raised the pressure level in the building by cutting the deficit down to 62-59 with 8:38 left in the game, but that would be as close as they would get as Kauffman knocked down a pair of free throws to start a 9-1 run to make it a 71-60 game with 6:07 to play. The Cardinals got back into single digits with a triple on their next possession, but that would be the last time as a fast break layup from Kauffman, who finished the quarter with 10 points, started a 10-3 run to give Tech their largest lead of the game at 81-66 with 2:11 left to go as the hosts collected their 13^th straight victory.
 
Tech (24-4, 17-1 WHAC) returns to action on Wednesday, February 19 with their final road game of the regular season at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. A win would give the Warriors their third straight conference title and an automatic bid to the 2020 NAIA Division II National Championship. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from the UM-Dearborn Fieldhouse.