FORT WAYNE, Ind. - A stifling defensive effort led the Marian University women's basketball team to their second straight victory, 60-50, over the Indiana Tech Warriors in the closing game of the SportOne Classic in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Saturday afternoon.

The Knights held a potent Warriors offense to just 15 points and 19 percent shooting (5-for-26) in the first 20 minutes to open a 14-point lead at the break. Indiana Tech warmed up in the second half, but the Knights had built too large of a lead to improve to 6-5 on the season and send IIT to their seventh defeat of the season.

The two teams traded buckets to open the game, but the Knights held the Warriors scoreless over the next 4:34 as they opened an 8-2 lead with 13:59 to go in the half. The Knights maintained their six-point lead until the 8:09 mark when Tech scored a short jumper to cut the lead back to four. An 13-2 Knights run, capped off by a three-pointer by freshman Amie Larkins (Fishers, Ind./Fishers), gave the Knights a 27-12 lead with 4:34 remaining in the frame.

A two-minute and forty-three second span saw neither team score until the Warriors cut the lead to 27-15 with 1:12 remainig. Senior Kristin Houck (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) scored the final bucket of the half to send the Knights to locker room wtih a 29-15 lead.

MU dominated the Warriors in the lane as they out-scored IIT by a 16-6 margin in the paint. The Knights also out-rebounded the Warriors, 28-14, in the first frame.

IIT closed the gap early in the second half, but the Knights responded to push the lead to 19, 39-20, with 14:27 remaining in the game. IIT cut into the lead time and again, but the Knights were able to answer every run and never let the Warriors get closer than 12 during a 10:48 span. They even pushed the lead to 20, 58-38, on a jumper by sophomore Emily Smithson (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) with 3:49 to go.

However, the Warriors went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 10 at 60-50 with 29 seconds to go. The Knights salted away the final 29 ticks to finish off a pair of 10-point wins at the SportOne Classic in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Freshman Rachel Turk (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) led three Knights in double figures with a career- and game-high 15 points to earn All-Tournament honors. She also had four rebounds, two assists, and three blocks. Houck finished with 13 points and seven boards, while Smithson had 12 points and two steals.

Senior Molly Lauck (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds in earning All-Tournament honors.

The Knights get back on the court when they come back to the friendly confines of the Physical Education Center for a matchup with Rose-Hulman on Tuesday night. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will air LIVE at www.muknights.com and LIVE STATISTICS will also be provided at www.muknights.com.