FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 17-ranked Indiana Tech women's basketball team defeated Siena Heights University, 71-45, Wednesday evening inside the Schaefer Center to extend their winning streak to nine games and moving closer to a regular season conference title.
 
Emma Tuominen had a game-high 20 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists while Erika Foy had 16 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three assists. Taya Andrews and Bethan Worm both had 13 points with the former grabbing four rebounds, four assists and two steals while the latter had six rebounds and two assists. Eileen Salisbury recorded eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
 
The Warriors raced out to a 9-2 lead, forcing the Saints to call a timeout at the 6:05 mark in the first quarter. The visitors cut the deficit to 13-6 two minutes later but would not score again after the 4:31 mark while Tech ended the period on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 20-6. Siena Heights would shoot just 2-15 from the floor while missing all six shots from behind the three-point arc.
 
Salisbury opened up the second quarter with a triple to start a 9-3 spurt that pushed the advantage to 29-9 at the 5:17 mark. Back-to-back layups from Sha'Kyia Parker, who led the Saints with 14 points, cut the deficit to 29-14 with 4:13 to play in the half, but the Orange and Black scored the final seven points of the quarter to take a 35-13 lead into the locker room.
 
The Warriors were barely threatened in the second half as the lead never dipped under 18 points and the advantage was only under 20 points for a 23-second span in the third quarter while Tech widened the gap to 30 points with 6:25 to go in the fourth quarter en route to the win.
 
Tech holds a three-game lead over second-place Rochester University, with Tech having two games left on their schedule while Rochester has four, including a matchup with the Orange and Black in  Fort Wayne on Valentine's Day. The Warriors return to action on Saturday as they travel to Madonna University. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. from the Alliance Catholic Credit Union.