GARY – Allison Kauffman had a career night to lead Grace’s women’s basketball team to a 79-42 win over IU-Northwest on Saturday.

Kauffman poured in 22 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks to highlight Grace’s rout.

The Lady Lancers (8-3) were especially dominant in the first half as they outscored the RedHawks (5-8) by the score of 46-18.

Grace held a slight advantage when the scoreboard read 10-8 with 14:54 to play, but the Lady Lancers seized control with a 13-1 run and never looked back.

Grace’s defense held IU-Northwest to just 10 points over the final 15 minutes of the first half. The RedHawks shot just 6-of-22 (27 percent) in the first period. By comparison, the Lady Lancers made 20 field goals in the first half and shot at a 51 percent rate.

“We worked hard all week on defense, and our key tonight was to have a defensive mindset,” said Grace head coach Scott Blum. “I would say they passed the test only allowing 18 first-half points. We did a great job tagging guards and denying easy post touches. All our players got in the second half, but everyone continued the defensive intensity.”

The second half was much of the same as the Lady Lancers built their lead up to 45 at one point.

Overall, Grace handled the ball well with a season-low 10 turnovers to their credit.

The Lady Lancers had a plus-24 advantage in the rebounding battle as they grabbed 17 offensive boards.

Freshman Kelsey Sule had her best performance of the season with nine points in 14 minutes off the bench, and Tiffany Petro and Lindsey Schaefer added eight points as well.

Jayla Starks tallied six points, four assists and four rebounds, Emily Bidwell posted seven points and six boards, and JoEllen Fickel pulled down five rebounds off the bench.

The Lady Lancers will next play at IU-Southeast on Wednesday at 7 p.m.