FORT WAYNE, Ind. –– Indiana Tech made it a clean sweep in women’s basketball by winning both the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference(WHAC) regular-season championship and the tournament title. The top-seeded Warriors used a strong first and fourth quarter to defeat second-seeded Aquinas 57-41 at the Schaefer Center for its first tournament crown.
Tech jumped to the early lead, running off seven straight points before expanding the lead to 12 by the end of the first quarter. During the second quarter, Aquinas‘ defense held as the Warriors scored only half of their first-quarter tally and Tech entered the break with an 11-point lead. Aquinas trimmed the lead to seven at the end of the third and got as close as five with under seven minutes on a pair of free throws by Carley Andrews. Kendall Knapke connected from behind the arc to push Tech’s lead to eight and the Warriors scored the next eight points while holding the Saints scoreless for the win.
Knapke scored a game-high 12 points and Rachel Bell added 11 points and seven assists to pace the Warriors. Bella Lozano-Dobbs grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and dished out six assists to help Tech improve to 30-3.
Carley Andrews led Aquinas with 11 points and Bri Spica added 10. Michaela Faber had nine rebounds as Aquinas drops to 25-8 on the year.
Both teams have qualified for the 2019 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball March 6-12 in Sioux City, Iowa. Indiana Tech claimed the first automatic berth with its regular-season championship and Aquinas claimed the second bid as the tournament runner-up. The NAIA selection show on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. (Eastern).