HUNTINGTON, Ind. -- It was a defensive battle Wednesday night as Huntington (Ind.) defended its home court in a 51-49 decision over Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball in a top-25 contest.

No. 24-ranked Huntington (18-6, 10-3) is now all alone in second place in the Crossroads League standings while No. 7-ranked Indiana Wesleyan (19-6, 9-4) drops to third place. IWU has dropped three straight games for the second time this season.

The Foresters jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead only three minutes into the game. The Wildcats slowly chipped away at the deficit and took their first lead of the game on a Chelsea Winner 3-pointer with 6:37 left before half. The two teams went into the break tied 21-21.

Indiana Wesleyan scored the first six points of the second half to capture a 27-21 advantage. Huntington did not score a second half point until the period was five minutes old. Midway through the second half Indiana Wesleyan led 34-32. Huntington then went on an 11-2 run to take a 43-36 lead with 5:13 remaining.

The Wildcats trimmed the lead to two points on three occasions over the final 1:30. The Foresters answered on the first two occasions with buckets by Pazia Speed and Miranda Palmer. The final two point deficit came on a Taylor Goshert layup with 0.7 seconds left. The Foresters were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock for the victory.

Val Sohasky paced Indiana Wesleyan with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Goshert finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds while Emma Stahl contributed 4 points and 6 assists. IWU shots 46.5-percent (20 of 43) from the field and was 4-of-8 (50.0-percent) from the foul line.

Indiana Wesleyan will remain on the road for their next game which will be at Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.