MARION, Ind. -- Grace (Ind.) put a scare into the No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball team on Saturday but the Wildcats escaped with a 64-59 victory in Luckey Arena. Grace held a lead with seven minutes remaining but Indiana Wesleyan closed out the victory for their 22nd victory of the season.

Game Vitals

• Score:  Indiana Wesleyan - 64   |   Grace - 59
• Records:  Indiana Wesleyan 22-6, 11-5 Crossroads League   |   Grace 6-22, 1-15 Crossroads League
• NAIA Top- 25 Rank:  Indiana Wesleyan - No. 17   |  
• Location:   Luckey Arena   |   Indiana Wesleyan University   |   Marion, Indiana 
• Brief:  Grace (Ind.) put a scare into the No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball team on Saturday but the Wildcats escaped with a 64-59 victory in Luckey Arena. Grace held a lead with seven minutes remaining but Indiana Wesleyan closed out the victory for their 22nd victory of the season.
   

What Went Down

• Indiana Wesleyan opened the game with an 8-2 as IWU never trailed in the opening half.
• The lead reached a high of 11 points in the opening half when a Jessica Brown (SR/Greenfield, Ind.) 3-pointer early in the second quarter put the Wildcats ahead 19-8.
• Grace closed out the second quarter on an 8-1 spurt to cut the deficit to 28-25 as the teams went into halftime.
• Haley Richardson scored in the paint two minutes into the third quarter for the 31-30 Grace lead. It was their first lead of the game.
• The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair that witnessed 4 ties and 10 lead changes. Kelsey Key (JR/Anderson, Ind.) sank a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left in the quarter for the final lead at 44-43.
• Erika Isham (SR/Tekonsha, Mich.) had a bucket with 6:28 remaining in the fourth quarter for a 48-47 Wildcat lead. It was the 12th and final lead change of the day.
• Indiana Wesleyan led by as many as six points in the final two minutes before a late Grace run cut the deficit to 60-59 with 15 seconds remaining.
• Kelsey Key hit two free throws with 13 seconds to play for a 62-59 lead. A Grace 3-point attempt with 6 seconds left barely missed as IWU pulled down the rebound and hit the two free throws for the 64-59 final score.
• Tori Kraft (SR/Harbor Beach, Mich.) scored a career-high and game-high 17 points. She was 7-of-9 from the floor.
• Kelsey Key and Jessica Brown both added 11 points. All 11 points from Key came in the second half.
• Michelle King (SR/Lakeland, Fla.) grabbed a career-best and game-high 10 rebounds.
• Carlee Cottrell (SR/West Bloomfield, Mich.) had a career-high seven assists.
  
   

Coach’s Corner

• “We survived it. We really got good play out of Tori Kraft and we needed it, every bit of it. You can’t win the game in the first half but you can lose it and we almost lost it right there in the first half. I told them the longer we let them in it the harder it’s going to be and it was hard.”  -- IWU head coach Steve Brooks
   

Extra! Extra!

• Indiana Wesleyan celebrated Senior Day on Saturday as there were six seniors honored. The senior class consists of Jessica Brown, Carlee Cottrell, Erika Isham, Michelle King, Tori Kraft, and Jessica Stewart (SR/Fishers, Ind.).
• Sounds of Hope and Kids Hope watched the game. Sounds of Hope sang the National Anthem and then performed during halftime.
• The Wildcats have won seven of their last eight meetings with the Lancers.
  
   

Next Time Out

• Indiana Wesleyan plays their final regular season home game on Wednesday as the Wildcats host Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio). Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Luckey Arena.