MARION, Ind. -- Seniors Claire Ray and Paige Smith were able to celebrate their Senior Night with a 73-62 victory over rival Taylor (Ind.) University on Wednesday night in Luckey Arena.

Smith compiled her fifth double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Ray contributed 13 points, five assists, three steals and some stellar defense. Smith dominated the first six minutes of the game as she scored 10 points as Indiana Wesleyan University raced out to a 16-6 lead.

"I was really pleased," said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Steve Brooks on the teams' impressive start. "Our older kids came out to compete and play and when the do that we are pretty good."

Junior guard Taylor Goshert, who would have been a senior this season if not for a red shirt season due to an ACL injury, would not be outdone by her would be classmates. Goshert sank a pair of free throws  near the midway point of the first half to put Indiana Wesleyan ahead 23-8. Those free throws gave Goshert nine points with just 10 minutes gone by.

The Trojans would respond with the long ball to close the gap to 36-31 at halftime. TU hit five 3-points in the final 8:20 of the first half to rally from 15 points down.

"Taylor can score from all five positions," said Brooks. "In the first half we let them back in the game with 3's and we let them stand there and shoot it."

Indiana Wesleyan (27-2, 15-2 CL) went into halftime and made some key adjustments to counter the Taylor 3-point barrage. Those adjustments led to zero 3-pointers for Taylor in the second half on four attempts.

Brooks continued, "In the second half we did a better job of taking the 3 point line away from them. We were going behind screens and doing some good things. We had some break downs in the first half but we got that fixed at halftime and in the second half we took away the 3-point line."

The Trojans scored the first four points of the second half to close within one at 36-35 as TU senior guard Tess Rudolph scored in the paint. That field goal finished a 27-13 run for the Trojans that cut a 15 point deficit to just one.

But Indiana Wesleyan would get baskets from sophomore forward Katrina Blackmon and Goshert to increase the advantage to five. Later in the half with Indiana Wesleyan leading by three, Ray drilled a 3-pointer and then stole the ball on the next Taylor possession and drove the length of the floor for the layup to put IWU up 53-45.

With 8:18 remaining, Taylor senior forward Erin Guarneri hit one of two free throws to trim the IWU lead to two at 55-53. This time Indiana Wesleyan responded with an 11-2 run as five different Wildcats scored for the 66-55 cushion with 4:47 on the clock. Taylor would get no closer than seven over the final four minutes.

Goshert scored a career-high 23 points in the win and pulled down eight rebounds. She had 15 points at halftime and finished with three 3-pointers and a 6-for-6 night at the foul line. Blackmon was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds.

Taylor (20-9, 9-8 CL) was led by Rudolph with 16 points and senior forward Erika Redweik with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Guarneri, the team's leading scorer, was limited to three points.

Following the game, Brooks led the Senior Night presentation as he spoke about Smith and Ray. Smith was accompanied by her parents and the parents of Leah Whittaker. Ray was accompanied by her parents and her husband.

"They are just amazing," Brooks said about the seniors on the radio after Senior Night. "Paige has been an amazing blessing ever since she stepped foot on the campus. She had to deal with losing her roommate to cancer and she has been a real testimony to everybody around her. Claire comes in here and in two years she has had a really positive influence as well. She has done a good job of being a leader because she communicates so well."

"They are both going to be great teachers because they just have a way of making you feel comfortable around them," continued Brooks. "They've done just a great job of leading our team this year."

Indiana Wesleyan remains in a first place tie with University of Saint Francis (Ind.) in the Crossroads League. The two teams have one game remaining, with Indiana Wesleyan traveling to Goshen (Ind.) and Saint Francis hosting Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) University. Those two games will tip-off at 1 p.m. on Saturday.