INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian University women's basketball team opened a 20-point halftime lead over No. 15-ranked Bethel College en route to an emphatic 92-76 victory over the Lady Pilots at the Physical Education Center on Saturday afternoon.

The win improved the Knights' record to 12-6 overall and 4-1 in the Mid-Central College Conference this season. It was the second straight victory over an NAIA Division II Top 25-ranked opponent as the Knights defeated No. 10-ranked Taylor University, 85-66, on Tuesday night.

"This is a nice win for us," said head coach Todd Bacon. "We defended very well for the majority of the game, and we were executing well on offense. Rachel (Turk) had a breakout game and we are looking forward to more from her."

Sophomore Rachel Kenney (Mooresville, Ind./Mooresville) scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-13 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive end, as she notched her first double-double of the season. Kenney is the first Knight to score 30 points since Lori Warmoth tallied 40 points in a 71-66 victory over the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) on January 17, 2001.

The Knights opened the ballgame with a 6-0 run over the first 2:01, but Bethel responded with a 9-0 run to take a three-point lead with 14:12 remaining in the first half. A three-pointer by senior Megan Egenolf (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) knotted the score, but a pair of free throws gave Bethel a two-point lead, 11-9, with 11:52 to go in the half.

A pair of free throws by senior Kristin Houck (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) tied the score at 11-11 with 11:37 to go and that would be the last time the score would be tied for the remainder of the game.

A 9-2 Knights run capped by a 15-foot jumper by Kenney gave the Knights a seven-point lead, 20-13, with 9:14 remaining. The Pilots responded with six straight points to get it back to one, 20-19, with 7:58 to go, but a 9-0 Knights run put them up 10 with 29-19 with 5:39 to go in the half.

The Pilots were able to cut it back to nine on two occasions with the last coming with 3:19 to go at 36-27. The Knights out-scored the Pilots 13-2 over the final three minutes to take a 20-point lead, 49-29, in to the locker room at halftime.

MU dominated the first half as they out-scored Bethel by a 28-8 margin in the paint and held a 14-6 advantage on second-chance points. The Knights also out-scored Bethel by a 12-0 margin on the fast break, and they out-rebounded the Pilots 26-13 in the first frame.

The MU defense heled the Pilots to just 30 percent (8-of-27) shooting in the first half, while the Knights hit at a 59 percent (19-of-32) clip in the first frame.

The Knights came out flat on defense to open the second half as Bethel went on a 10-0 run over the first 3:37 to cut the lead to 10 at 49-39. The Pilots were able to cut it to eight, 53-45, with 12:43 remaining before the Knights pushed it back to 12, 57-45, with 11:40 to go.

The teams traded buckets until Bethel cut the lead back to 11 at 73-62 with 6:16 remaining in the game. A 7-0 Knights run pushed the lead back to 18 at 81-63 with 4:24 remaining, but Bethel was able to cut it back to 13, 84-71, on a three-pointer with 2:36 to go. However, that was as close as the Pilots would get as the Knights went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 1:32 to close out the 92-76 upset win.

Marian out-rebounded Bethel by a 44-25 margin and out-scored the Pilots 50-20 in the paint for the game. The Knights also held a 22-13 advantage in second-chance points and a 14-0 edge on the fast break. They also shot 55 percent (32-of-58) for the game and shot 86 percent (24-of-28) from the free throw line.

Freshman Rachel Turk (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) had a breakout performance after she tallied 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while senior Megan Egenolf (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) talleid 13 points and handed out six assists. Sophomore Emily Smithson (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) dished out a season-high eight assists, all in the first half, to lead the Knights.

Marian University heads to No. 8-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University on Wednesday night for a key Mid-Central College Conference matchup. The game will tip at 7 p.m. and it will air LIVE at www.muknights.com.