INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian University women's basketball team earned a 71-47 victory over the Holy Cross College Saints to open the 2009 Marian University Holiday Classic at the Physical Education Center on Tuesday night.

The Knights improved to 9-6 on the season, while Holy Cross dropped to 3-14 on the campaign.

HCC opened the game with the first bucket, but the Knights went on a 9-1 run to take a 9-3 lead with 14:01 to go in the first half. After allowing a bucket, they went on a 17-0 run over the next 8:42 to open a 26-5 lead. HCC closed the gap to 14, 28-14, with 3:23 remaining in the half. They pushed it down to 12 at 31-19 with 1:38 to go before the Knights scored the final bucket of the half to take a 33-21 lead into the locker room.

Marian took advantage of 12 HCC turnovers in the first half to the tune of 13 points. They also held a 10-0 advantage in the first half in second-chance points after grabbing eight offensive boards.

The Saints cut the lead to 10 at 35-25 before the Knights pushed the lead to 16, 41-25, with a 6-0 run. It was the closest HCC got as the Knights pulled away by out-scoring the Saints 33-22 over the final 16 minutes to pick up the victory.

The Knights out-rebounded the Saints by a 51-22 margin and out-scored HCC by an 18-0 margin in second-chance points. The Marian bench also out-scored HCC by a 35-11 margin for the game.

Freshman Whitley Emerson (Speedway, Ind./Speedway) led three Knights in double figures with 14 points and added five rebounds. Senior Kristin Houck (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) notched her first double-double of the season as she scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.

Freshman Amie Larkins (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) added 11 points and grabbed eight boards, while sophomore Emily Smithson (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) dished out a game-high five assists.

The Knights will take on Concordia University (Mich.) on the final day of the Holiday Classic. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.