MARION, Ind. -- Katrina Blackmon tied a career-high with 19 points as No. 10-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball pulled away from Spring Arbor (Mich.) in a 64-51 victory in Luckey Arena.

Blackmon was 5-of-8 from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. She also pulled down seven rebounds and had three steals.

“I don’t even think she was even feeling 100-percent today,” said Indiana Wesleyan head coach Steve Brooks. “But she really did come out and compete today. That is the kind of effort we need on a consistent basis.”

The Wildcats struggled through a rough first half where the team trailed much of the time. Blackmon scored the game’s first basket but the Cougars responded with seven straight points. SAU did not surrender the advantage until Blackmon connected on an old-fashion 3-point play for a 17-16 lead and 5:34 left before halftime.

Indiana Wesleyan (22-6, 12-4 CL) led by as many as five points late in the period but a 3-pointer by SAU’s Carlie Newman just before the buzzer deadlocked the two team’s at 23-23 at intermission.

“Every one of these games is critically important,” Brooks said. “We need to come out and play with a sense of urgency and we did not do that. We were flat in the first half.”

Spring Arbor (10-17, 4-12 CL) scored nine seconds into the second half to lead 25-23 but that would be their final advantage. Indiana Wesleyan ran off 11 straight points for a 34-25 lead and did not trail again. Midway through the half, Spring Arbor trimmed the deficit to two points but Indiana Wesleyan scored nine unanswered points and was not threatened again. Taylor Goshert hit a pair of free throws with 6:49 left to play and led by double digits the rest of the afternoon.

“We were looking for ways to getting it down low and attack the basket more than we did in the first half,” said Brooks. “We did too-much one pass basketball in the first half and that’s not how we play.”

Besides Blackmon pounding the ball in the post, Val Sohasky nearly ended the day with a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Goshert finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists while Carlee Cottrell provided 8 points off the bench.

Indiana Wesleyan shot 39.7-percent (23 of 58) from the field and was a perfect 19-of-19 from the charity stripe. Spring Arbor managed just 30.0-percent (18 of 60) shooting today.

The Wildcats take to the road for their final away game of the regular season on Wednesday. IWU travels to Goshen (Ind.) for a 7 p.m. tip-off.