MARION, Ind. -- Kayla Thompson hit five 3-point baskets tonight en route to a career-high 27 points as the Indiana Wesleyan University women's basketball team defeated visiting Marian (Ind.) College 73-64 in the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament First Round.

Indiana Wesleyan, the tournament's No. 3-seed, advances to the MCC Tournament Semifinals where they will play at No. 2-seed Huntington (Ind.) University. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, February 27. Huntington disposed No. 7-seed Spring Arbor (Mich.) University by a 65-52 margin.

Thompson's previous career-high of 20 points came last year in a victory over Grace (Ind.) College. Tonight, Thompson connected on 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and was 8-of-12 from the free throw line. The sophomore guard played all 40 minutes.

In a battle of the top two defensive teams in the MCC, the Wildcats were able to force the Knights into 21 turnovers, 13 coming in the opening half. The large discrepancy in turnovers allowed the Wildcats to negate the Knights' 33-21 advantage in rebounds.

No. 19-ranked Indiana Wesleyan looked to put away Marian in the early goings as IWU raced out to an 8-2 lead. But the two teams slugged it out as neither team could muster any offense in the first 14 minutes of play as the teams were tied 17-17.

Indiana Wesleyan discovered their offense in the last 5:35 of the fist half with a 20 point outburst during that span. The Wildcats were able to open up an 11 point lead and seize momentum as they headed into the locker room with a 37-26 advantage. Thompson ignited Indiana Wesleyan with 12 points during the stretch.

Indiana Wesleyan increased their lead to 13 points, the largest lead of the night, with 18:54 to go as freshman guard Rachel Steinbarger scored in the paint. Steinbarger ended the evening with 11 points and three steals.

Marian responded in a big way over the next six minutes as the Knights scored 16 of the next 20 points to bring the deficit down to one point at 45-44.

Steinbarger quickly gave the Wildcats an answer with an old fashioned 3-point play. IWU led 48-44 with 12:33 in the game.

With Indiana Wesleyan holding a four point lead, senior guard Andrea Fichter was fouled on a 3-point attempt. She connected on all three free throws to extend the IWU lead to 56-49 with just over six minutes left. Fichter contributed 11 points, three boards and three assists in the win.

Marian was able to draw within five points at 58-53 but could not draw closer the rest of the way. Indiana Wesleyan eventually increased the lead to 67-55 before settling for the 73-64 victory.

Indiana Wesleyan sophomore forward Elaine Hessel was the fourth Wildcat in double figures as she added 14 points. Sophomore forward LeAnn Douglas chipped in with eight points.

Marian shot 51.1-percent (23 of 45) on the night and 94.1-percent (16 of 17) from the charity stripe, but could not overcome their 21 turnovers, which led to 19 points for Indiana Wesleyan.

The MCC Tournament continues on Friday as the top four seeds all advanced to the semifinals. Indiana Wesleyan will battle Huntington with Bethel (Ind.) College hosting Taylor (Ind.) University in the other semifinal.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.