ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – The No. 12-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team returned to conference action on New Years Eve with a 78-62 win over Rochester University at Garth Pleasant Arena.
Kyra Whitaker had a game-high 22 points, going 6-10 from the floor and 5-8 from behind the three-point line while adding six assists, a block and a steal.
Erika Foy and
Emma Tuominen had 12 points each, with the former adding 11 rebounds, three assists and a block while the latter had nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
After ending the first quarter the same way the game started with a 13-13 score and both teams combining to go 9-30 from the floor while the visiting Warriors benefited from the home Warriors going just 4-9 from the free throw line, Tech proceeded to go 8-13 from the floor in the second while shooting a blistering 62.5% (5-8) from downtown to outscore Rochester 22-15 in the period.
While Rochester started the second on a 6-2 run, Tech responded with a 14-5 run, powered by back-to-back triples from
Eileen Salisbury to force a timeout by the home team with 3:34 to go in the half and the Orange and Black leading 29-24. The road Warriors hit two more triples and held Rochester scoreless over the final 2:57 to take a 35-28 lead into the locker room.
The home Warriors held the upper hand in the third quarter with a 24-18 scoring advantage thanks in large part to a 12-0 run where they held Tech scoreless for a 4:28 stretch to go up 44-42. The visitors battled back with a 7-2 run over the last 1:47 of the period to take a 53-52 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
Tech tightened up defensively in the fourth quarter as Rochester went just 4-16 from the floor and 1-6 from three-point range to outscore the defending conference champs 25-10 and end the 2021 portion of their schedule with a win. The road Warriors kicked off the period on a 17-5 run to push their advantage to 70-57 with 5:31 to play and forcing a timeout by Rochester but the lead never dipped under nine the rest of the way.
Tech (16-1, 8-0 WHAC) returns to action on Saturday, January 8 as they host Madonna University. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from the Schaefer Center.
