MARION, Indiana - The stage was set for an epic battle in the first round of the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament. The No. 6-seeded Marian College women's basketball team battled the No. 3-seeded Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats at Luckey Arena on Tuesday night.

 

The top two defensive teams in the MCC battled back-and-forth before clutch shooting sent Indiana Wesleyan to the semifinals with a 73-64 victory.

 

The game opened as the last few have for the Knights as IWU opened a seven-point lead, 15-8, over the first 10:25. However, the Knights went on a 9-2 run over the next 3:21 to knot the score, 17-17, with 6:14 remaining in the first half.

 

It was at the 5:35 mark that the first huge three-point bucket propelled IWU back into the lead, 20-17. The Knights would tie the score, 20-20, on a traditional three-point play by fifth-year senior Whitney Frame. After IWU split a pair of free throws, Frame sank a bucket that gave the Knights their first lead, 22-21, with 4:37 to go.

 

However, another huge three-pointer pushed IWU back into the lead, 24-22, and ignited a 7-0 run to give the Wildcats a 28-22 lead with 3:20 to go in the first frame. IWU would push the lead to 11, 37-26, as the horn sounded on yet another massive trey at the end of the first half.

 

The Knights shot 53 percent (10-for-19) in the first half while Indiana Wesleyan shot just 43 percent (12-for-28). However, IWU was a red-hot 7-for-13 from three-point range. IWU also capitalized on 13 Knights turnovers in the first half to the tune of 13 points.

 

The second half would be much different as the Knights defense clamped down on the red-hot three-point shooting of the Wildcats.

 

After IWU pushed the lead to 13, 41-28, with 18:54 remaining in the game, the Knights went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five, 41-36, with 16:08 to play. Another three-pointer with the shot clock running down pushed the lead back to eight, 44-36, with 15:40 to go, but the Knights answered with a 6-1 run to cut the lead back to one, 45-44, with 12:46 remaining.

 

A traditional three-point play gave the Wildcats a four-point lead, 48-44, and the teams would battle for the next seven minutes. Every time the Knights got within four, a big bucket would send IWU back into the lead and with 3:05 remaining the Knights cut the lead back to five, 58-53.

 

However, the dagger came after an offensive foul on a breakaway resulted in a back-breaking three-pointer that gave IWU an eight-point lead, 61-53, with just 1:52 to go.

 

The Knights would have to battle from behind, but IWU proved too strong as they hit free throws down the stretch to earn the 73-64 victory and move on in the MCC Tournament.

 

Clutch shooting propelled the Wildcats to the victory even though the Knights outshot them for the game, 51 percent to 41 percent. IWU was held to just 39 percent (7-for-18) in the second half. The Knights outrebounded IWU, 33-21, for the game and outscored IWU, 32-18, in the paint.

 

Fifth-year senior Whitney Frame (Lynn, Indiana/Randolph Southern) closed out her spectacular career with 15 points while senior Jessica Carr (New Castle, Indiana/New Castle) also tallied 16 points, nine rebounds, and three assists in her final appearance.

 

The Knights end the season with their second consecutive 19-win campaign as they finished 19-12 overall and 7-9 in MCC play. The Knights also had the single-longest win streak in school history after they opened the season 15-0 and 4-0 in the MCC.

 

Frame became the 10th Knight to surpass 1,000 points for her career and Carr was just a handful of rebounds from breaking the single-season rebounding mark. Head coach Todd Bacon also picked up his 100th career victory as a women's basketball coach at Marian College.

 

Congratulations to the Knights on a great season.