MARION, Ind. -- The top-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women's basketball team built an early lead and was never challenged Friday night in a 67-50 win over No. 15-ranked Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) University in Luckey Arena.

One of the highlights for the Wildcats in the 10th straight win to open the season was the play of freshman point guard Emma Stahl. She accumulated a career-best eight assists in 21 minutes with zero turnovers.

"She's done a real good job. She can do things you don't expect out of a freshman. I thought she gave us really good minutes tonight. Really, really good minutes," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Steve Brooks. "She brings energy and an immediate lift. She sees the floor extremely well and makes players around her better and that is what you want out of your point guard."

Five minutes into the game, Indiana Wesleyan held a 7-6 lead. IWU held Cardinal Stritch scoreless for the next four minutes and added eight more points for a 15-6 advantage as the halfway point of the first half neared.

Cardinal Stritch (8-4) continued to struggle offensively as Indiana Wesleyan continued to increase the lead to 14 points (23-9). The visiting Wolves did not reach double digits until a basket by freshman guard Alyssa Thomas with 5:49 left on the clock before halftime.

Indiana Wesleyan (10-0) gained their largest lead of the half when senior guard Stephanie Burtch hit a 3-point basket just past half court as the buzzer sounded. The heave lifted IWU to a 38-19 lead at the break.

The Wildcat defense limited the Wolves to 29.6-percent (8 of 27) shooting in the first 20 minutes while offensively IWU hit 56.0-percent (14 of 25).

Indiana Wesleyan never allowed Cardinal Stritch back in the game during the second half but was unable to duplicate their first half success. The lead was between 15 to 22 points the entire half.

"Our second half was not as energetic and enthusiastic as our first half," said Brooks. "We need to learn to compete for 40 minutes and not 28 or 30."

Senior center Krystal Stoneking led all players with 15 points on Friday, shooting 7-of-12 from the field. She added five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Junior forward Paige Smith contributed 14 points and four steals while senior guard Ashley Brooks finished with 12 points.

Cardinal Stritch was led by senior guard Janelle Bagneski with 12 points and four assists.

Indiana Wesleyan gets right back at it with a home date tomorrow against Wilberforce (Ohio) University. Wilberforce presents some different challenges than Cardinal Stritch did tonight.

"We scheduled like this for a reason. This is like playing at the national tournament where you play at night and turn around and play the next day and play a totally different type of team. So you have a short turnaround time to get ready and its going to be interesting to see how our kids respond. Tonight we played a more physical team and Wilberforce is a lot more athletic team."

Tip-off against Wilberforce is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday in Luckey Arena.