MARION, Ind. -- No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women's basketball turned a close game at halftime into a blowout with a dominating second half performance in the team's home opener versus Cornerstone (Mich.) University in Luckey Arena.

Indiana Wesleyan led by a slim 31-26 advantage when the teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime. But it took seven and a half minutes for Cornerstone to score their first points in the second half and had just two points with 7:30 left on the second half clock.

"I was really pleased with how we came out and played the second half," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Steve Brooks. "We came out with a purpose and defended better. We made them make hard shots and we did not give them second chances."

Cornerstone managed only five points for the first 15:10 of the second half. In all, Indiana Wesleyan outscored Cornerstone 29-9 over the final 20 minutes.

It was a different story to start the game. Cornerstone exploded out of the blocks and tallied 14 points in the first four minutes of action. Four different Golden Eagles scored during that stretch as Cornerstone built a 14-10 lead.

"I was really frustrated with how we came out in the first half," said Brooks. "We came out flat in the first five minutes which is what we did on Saturday, we let them score 12-14 points in the first five minutes. That's something we can't do, we have to come out and play our defense from start to finish and if we do it gives us a chance."

The Wildcats slowed down the Golden Eagles for the next seven minutes as they were held scoreless. IWU had scored 11 straight to gain a 21-14 advantage. But the Golden Eagles were able to get within two points on three more occasions in the first half, with the final time being 28-26 with 2:42 left on the clock. Sophomore guard Teneil Krebs drilled a 3-pointer for the 31-26 lead at 2:15 as neither team scored the rest of the half.

Indiana Wesleyan was led by senior forward Paige Smith with 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting and she added seven rebounds and three steals. Senior guard Claire Ray added 10 points and team-highs of eight rebounds and five assists while sophomore guard Emma Stahl contributed 10 points and four assists.

Thirteen Wildcats saw the floor Tuesday night and 11 of them scored or grabbed a rebound.

The Indiana Wesleyan defense limited Cornerstone to just 30.0-percent (15 of 50) shooting on the night which is highlighted by the 15.4-percent (4 of 26) performance during the second half. Cornerstone committed 19 turnovers and Indiana Wesleyan won the battle on the boards 40-29.

The Wildcats improve to a perfect 4-0 this season while the Golden Eagles fall to 3-2. CU is receiving votes in the NAIA Preseason Top-25 Poll.

Indiana Wesleyan returns to action this weekend at the Grace College Classic in Winona Lake, Indiana. IWU plays the first game of the men's and women's basketball tournament at 2 p.m. on Friday against No. 24-ranked Union (Ky.) College.