INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- No. 3-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women's basketball opened Mid-Central College Conference play with a bang as IWU earned a 79-49 victory at Marian (Ind.) University.

Indiana Wesleyan received big production from its two post players in senior center Krystal Stoneking and junior forward Paige Smith. The pair combined for 35 points on 12-of-20 shooting.

Stoneking led all players with 18 points while Smith added 17 points and six rebounds.

The Wildcats captured a big first half lead, taking a 40-17 advantage into halftime. IWU shot 51.7-percent (15 of 29) in the opening frame while the defense held the Knights to only 23.8-percent (5 of 21) shooting.

Indiana Wesleyan's bench outscored it counterpart 40-8. Smith's 17 led the way while freshman forward Teneil Krebs added 10. Freshman point guard Emma Stahl had a great performance with seven points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.

The loss is the first for Marian (4-1, 0-1 MCC) while Indiana Wesleyan improves to 7-0 and 1-0 in conference action.

Indiana Wesleyan will have more than a week off as IWU returns to action a week from tomorrow with a home game against No. 24-ranked Grace (Ind.) College. The game will be at 7 p.m. in Luckey Arena.