MARION, Ind. - No. 8-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women's basketball used a hot start and a strong finish to cruise to victory over Huntington (Ind.) University by a score of 61-41 on Saturday afternoon in Luckey Arena.

Nine Wildcats contributed at least nine minutes of action as IWU's NAIA Div. II leading defense held the Foresters to 29.8-percent shooting for the game. Huntington became the 11th team to fail to reach 50 points against Indiana Wesleyan this season.

After the opening basket of the game was scored by Huntington, Indiana Wesleyan reeled off 11 straight points to grab the topside of the scoreboard for the rest of the afternoon. Huntington narrowed their deficit to 13-8 but were never able to get closer in the opening half as the Wildcats went into halftime with a 34-20 lead.

The first half was dominated by Wildcat junior guard Ashley Brooks and senior forward Elaine Hessel. Brooks led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting while also chipping in four assists and two rebounds. Hessel added 13 points of her own to add to the lead.

The Foresters used a 14-4 run to open the second half and cut their deficit to four points with 11:29 remaining in the game. Huntington guard Sarah Miller used that time to notch 6 of her team-high 14 points. However, IWU would close the game on a 23-7 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from junior guard Stephanie Burtch, sophomore forward Lyzz Smith and senior guard Kayla Thompson.

Hessel led all players in scoring on the day as she recorded 15 points while Brooks finished the day with 14 points. Junior center Krystal Stoneking posted eight points and five rebounds and Smith chipped in with seven points and a career-high of 11 boards.

The Wildcats improve to 22-3 on the season and 11-1 in the Mid-Central College Conference which puts them into first in the conference, one game ahead of No. 4-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.). The Foresters fall to 14-10 overall and are now 6-6 in MCC play.

Indiana Wesleyan returns to action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 9 as they take on Spring Arbor (Mich.) University at Luckey Arena. That game will be "Think Pink - Think Leah" night, with all proceeds going to IWU freshman Leah Whittaker who is fighting stage 4 cancer.