MARION, Ind. -- A stout defensive effort led No. 6-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women's basketball to another victory on Wednesday night as IWU earned a 55-40 win over No. 14-ranked Marian (Ind.) University in a battle of NAIA ranked opponents.

Marian (12-7), fresh off high scoring victories over then No. 10-ranked Taylor (Ind.) University and then No. 15-ranked Bethel (Ind.) College, was limited to just 40 points on 35.7-percent (15 of 42) shooting. Marian missed on all six of their 3-point attempts and committed 22 turnovers.

Indiana Wesleyan improves to 6-0 in the Mid-Central College Conference while Marian (4-2) falls back into a pack of five teams with two losses.

IWU sophomore guard Rachel Steinbarger connected for a 3-pointer 23 seconds into the game as the Wildcats raced out to a 7-0 lead before two minutes were off the clock.

Sophomore center Krystal Stoneking added an old fashioned 3-point play with 12:13 on the clock to give Indiana Wesleyan its first double digit lead of the night at 17-7. On their next possession, junior forward Elaine Hessel added a 3-point play of her own from beyond the arc to extend the advantage to 20-7.

Indiana Wesleyan (17-3) never let Marian within eight points the rest of the way to halftime and again led by 13 points (30-17) with 3:30 before the break. But IWU did not score again before the intermission while Marian scored the final four points of the half as Indiana Wesleyan took a 30-21 lead into the locker rooms.

Following a Hessel bucket to open the second half and give Indiana Wesleyan a 32-21 lead, Marian slowly crept back into the game. With 11:14 left to play, Marian trimmed the deficit to five points (36-31), the closest the score had been since 7-2 in the early minutes of the game.

Hessel hit a field goal on the next possession for the Wildcats, but the Knights responded with the next five points to bring it to a one possession game at 38-36 with 6:53 on the clock.

But in just over a minute the Wildcats upped their lead to eight points.

Hessel drove to the basket and was fouled for an old fashion 3-point play. Following a defensive stop, Stoneking matched Hessel with a bucket and one as the two point lead grew to an eight point lead (44-36) with 5:51 remaining.

Indiana Wesleyan continued to increase their lead to 12 points at 48-36 with 4:36 to go as IWU ran off a 10-0 run in less than three minutes to capture momentum and the victory. The game finished with a 17-4 Indiana Wesleyan run.

The final margin of victory (55-40) equaled the largest lead of the night for Indiana Wesleyan.

Hessel and Marian sophomore forward Rachel Kenney tied for game-high honors with 16 points and eight rebounds apiece.

IWU junior forward LeAnn Douglas was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 15 points. Stoneking added nine points off the bench and junior guard Kayla Thompson contributed six assists and five steals.

Indiana Wesleyan will return to the court at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 16 with a MCC contest versus Grace (Ind.) College in Winona Lake, Indiana.

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