INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball defeated No. 6 Marian (Ind.) 68-64 to claim the 2016 Crossroads League Tournament Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. The tournament championship is the sixth in program history and the first ever won on the road.

Game Vitals

• Score:  Indiana Wesleyan - 68   |   Marian - 64
• Records:  Indiana Wesleyan 26-7   |   Marian 27-6
• NAIA Top- 25 Rank:  Indiana Wesleyan - No. 19   |   Marian - No. 6
• Location:   Physical Education Center   |   Marian University   |   Indianapolis, Indiana 
• Brief:  No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan University women’s basketball defeated No. 6 Marian (Ind.) 68-64 to claim the 2016 Crossroads League Tournament Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. The tournament championship is the sixth in program history and the first ever won on the road.
   

What Went Down

• Chelsea Winner (JR/Maria Stein, Ohio) scored the first eight points of the game for Indiana Wesleyan.
• Neither team led by more than three points in the opening quarter as Marian took a 16-14 lead into the second quarter.
• Late in the second quarter Marian captured their largest lead of the night at 32-26.
• Indiana Wesleyan scored six of the final eight points in the first half but Marian led 34-31 at halftime.
• Leading by one point, Indiana Wesleyan ran off seven straight points to build their largest lead of the night of eight points. The IWU lead of 45-37 came on a Haley Woodruff (JR/Evansville, Ind.) bucket with 2:55 left on the third quarter clock.
• The Wildcats held the eight point lead at the end of the third quarter with a 53-45 advantage.
• Marian used a 9-0 run to gain a 56-55 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
• The next three minutes featured two ties and six lead changes. Carlee Cottrell (SR/West Bloomfield, Mich.) scored the final go-ahead bucket with 2:04 on the clock for the 61-60 lead.
• Leading by one point, Tori Kraft (SR/Harbor Beach, Mich.) hit a jump shot with 24 second left for a 65-62 lead.
• The Knights had a chance to cut into the Wildcat lead but missed a layup. Haley Woodruff was fouled and she connected on one of two free throws to lead 66-62.
• Marian scored with 6 seconds left to trail 66-64 and was forced to foul. Kelsey Key (JR/Anderson, Ind.) went to the line and sank both free throws with 4 seconds remaining to ice the tournament championship.
• Indiana Wesleyan scored 38 of their 68 points in the paint and tied a season-low with just one 3-pointer.
• Kelsey Key had 13 points and 4 rebounds, Chelsea Winner finished with 12 points and 5 boards, and Haley Woodruff chipped in 11 points and 4 rebounds. Jessica Brown (SR/Greenfield, Ind.) played all 40 minutes and had 6 points and a career-high 6 assists.
• The Wildcats shot 53.1-percent (26 of 49) from the floor while the Knights were held to 40.0-percent (22 of 55).
• Marian’s Lakan Hasser-Smith led all players with 15 points and Jessica Almeida added 14 points.
  
   

Coach’s Corner

• “I am so proud of this group. They followed the game plan tonight. It wasn’t perfect and we knew it wouldn’t be perfect, but we just wanted to have some perfect moments and we did that. We made some free throws at the right time. This is a huge win for us and I am really proud of our kids. Our programs have a ton of respect for each other. They are a really well coached team. What they do is hard to guard and they have good players that are hard to guard. We respect them a ton.”   -- IWU head coach Steve Brooks
   

Extra! Extra!

• The Crossroads League Tournament championship victory is the first for Indiana Wesleyan since 2012.
• The Wildcats are 6-7 all-time in the Crossroads League Tournament championship game.
• The Wildcats won their first ever Crossroads League Tournament Championship away from Luckey Arena. They were previously 0-5 in tournament championships games on the road.
• Indiana Wesleyan has played in five of the last six Crossroads League Tournament championship games.
• Indiana Wesleyan has won three straight games vs. NAIA Top-25 teams.
  
   

Next Time Out

• Indiana Wesleyan awaits the release of the NAIA Division II National Championship brackets this coming Wednesday. The national tournament begins with First Round games on March 9-10 in Sioux City, Iowa.