FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 9-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team defeated Lourdes University, 81-48, Wednesday evening inside the Schaefer Center to extend their winning streak to eight games.
 
Emma Tuominen had 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals while Kyra Whitaker had 12 points and two blocks. Taya Andrews and Bethany Worm both chipped in 11 points with the former adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals while the latter had eight rebounds and four assists. Erika Foy had 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
 
The Gray Wolves jumped out to the early lead after the opening tip and led 6-2 just a little over four minutes into the game. A triple from Whitaker on the fast break snapped a nearly three-minute field goal drought for Tech at the 4:59 mark to knot the game up at 6-6. Lourdes went back up at the 3:27 mark, but Worm countered with a three-pointer right after to put the Warriors up 9-8 and start a 9-0 run for the Orange and Black as they ended the quarter leading 15-8.
 
After trading baskets to start the second quarter Tech went on an 8-0 run powered by back-to-back triples from Whitaker and Eileen Salisbury to make it a 27-15 game with 6:53 to play in the first half. Lexie Sermak cut the deficit back to nine at the 5:10 mark with a triple, but a bucket from Tuominen started a 10-0 run for the hosts as they entered the locker room leading 37-24.
 
The Warriors turned up the pressure in the third quarter as they outscored Lourdes 29-7, shooting 52.9% from the floor while limiting the Gray Wolves to just 1-11 shooting. An 18-1 run over a 5:14 stretch saw the Tech advantage balloon to 59-27 and the rout was on. The Warriors led by as many as 36 points as they won their 18^th straight game against Lourdes and improve to 21-1 all-time against their conference foe.
 
Tech (8-0, 3-0 WHAC) returns to action on Tuesday, November 23 as they head to Aquinas College. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center.