HUNTINGTON, Ind. -- In a top-25 battle the No. 6-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball team defeated No. 18-ranked Huntington (Ind.) by a 55-49 margin on Wednesday in Huntington, Indiana.

The Wildcats held the Foresters to just 18 points in the first half and to 36.4-percent (20 of 55) shooting for the game. The Foresters connected on just 1 of their 10 (10.0-percent) 3-point shots.

The Indiana Wesleyan defensive pressure started from the opening tip-off. IWU scored the first nine points of the game as Huntington did not record a point until the game was more than seven minutes old.

Huntington (11-4, 2-3 CL) was able to fight back in the opening half as they gained an 18-16 lead with 4:59 left before halftime. But Indiana Wesleyan closed out the half with the final seven points for a 23-18 lead at the break.

Indiana Wesleyan (14-3, 5-0 CL) scored the first nine points of the second half to lead 31-18. Huntington responded with the next nine points to close to 31-29 near the midway point of the second half. Indiana Wesleyan then scored 10 of the next 12 points to increase their advantage to 41-31.

The lead remained greater than seven points the rest of the game until Miranda Palmer hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to cut the deficit to 55-49. But Huntington would not score again as IWU pulled out the six point victory.

Erika Isham (SR/Tekonsha, Mich.) scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Teneil Krebs (SR/Bucyrus, Ohio) added 13 points and Chelsea Winner (SO/Maria Stein, Ohio) finished with 11 points. Katrina Blackmon (SR/Marion, Ind.) contributed six rebounds and nine assists.

Indiana Wesleyan shot 47.8-percent (22 of 46) from the field and 46.2-percent (6 of 13) from 3-point range. IWU earned 18 assists on 22 field goals made. Indiana Wesleyan also won the battle on the boards by a 37-29 margin.

Indiana Wesleyan plays a second straight road game on Saturday at Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio). Tip-off is at 1 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Ohio.