MARION, Ind. -- Senior forward Paige Smith had extra motivation to play well on Friday in the first game of the First Annual Leah Whittaker Memorial Tournament in Luckey Arena.

Smith was the roommate of Leah Whittaker, who passed away on August 16, 2011 following an eight month battle with stage IV colon cancer. The two quickly bonded in the five short months as roommates.

"This is a very emotional tournament for Paige Smith," said Indiana Wesleyan assistant coach Brent Bellinger. "She was Leah's roommate. Everything that Leah went through, Paige went through right along with her."

Smith ended play with game highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds. She contributed four assists and three steals.

"She wanted to come out here and really dedicate everything she did on the court to Leah," continued Bellinger. "She hustled after every rebound, with 10 of those being offensive. She was all over the court and played well defensively and she really showed what it meant to be a senior today and play for something more than the game of basketball."

On the court, the story for Indiana Wesleyan was turnovers. Indiana Wesleyan committed just four turnovers in the game which is the lowest amount in program history. Game-by-game statistics date back to the 1990 season. Indiana Wesleyan set the previous low mark earlier this season on November 20 with six in a win over Marian (Ind.) University. IWU did not commit a turnover in the first half.

"We had played against them earlier in the tournament at Grace College so we had them scouted out defensively," stated Bellinger. "Because of that we were able to get a lot of good shots even though we missed a lot of layups. We took good care of the ball but now we need to finish more."

Rochester scored the first five points of the game and held a 15-10 lead with 11 minutes to play in the opening half. But Indiana Wesleyan scored the next 10 points and captured their first lead of the game on a Claire Ray 3-pointer with 5:22 on the first half clock.

The 10-0 run was just the beginning as the Wildcat finished the half 23-6 run to end the opening period with a 33-21 advantage. Smith already had 10 points and seven boards by the break.

Indiana Wesleyan scored eight of the first 11 points in the second half to build their largest advantage of the game, 41-24. Nearing the midway point of the half and IWU up by 16, Rochester rattled off seven points to narrow the deficit to single digits at 43-34.

The Warriors would get as close as seven at 45-38 before the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run to reclaim a 16 point cushion. IWU earned its largest lead of the night at 60-42 before the Warriors scored the final basket for the 60-44 final.

Sophomore forward Katrina Blackmon added 15 points and four rebounds in the victory. She was 7-of-11 from the foul line. Junior guard Taylor Goshert and Ray each added eight points while freshman guard Carlee Cottrell chipped in six.

Indiana Wesleyan shot just 31.0-percent (18 of 58) from the field while Rochester did a bit better at 34.0-percent (16 of 47). Rochester did commit 19 turnovers to just the four for Indiana Wesleyan.

Indiana Wesleyan will play in the final game of the Leah Whittaker Memorial Tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. IWU will host University of Rio Grande (Ohio) while Taylor (Ind.) University and Rochester play at 1 p.m.