OWENSBORO, Ky. – Another strong defensive showing from the Kentucky Wesleyan College women's basketball team gave the Panthers a 79-42 win over Salem International University on Monday afternoon in a non-conference matchup.  With the 37-point victory Kentucky Wesleyan improves to 18-7 on the season with one Great Midwest Athletic Conference game remaining.

The Panthers scored first on a jumper from Jennifer Walker-Crawford and that's all they needed as they never trailed nor saw the game tied.  It was a three-point game at the 4:58 mark but the Panthers exploded for a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to jump out to a 15-point lead.  Kentucky Wesleyan held the Tigers to a shooting percentage of 30.8 in the first half to take a 42-22 lead to the break. 

Kentucky Wesleyan kept pounding the second half, extending its lead to 30 points with a jumper from Walker-Crawford in the closing minute of the third quarter.  The Panthers bench showed their strength, scoring 41 points including 10 from Jasmine Shelt.

Salem was six-for-thirty from the floor in the second half for a shooting percentage of 20%.  The Panthers tabbed 29 defensive rebounds to Salem's 19 in the final 20 minutes en route to the 37-point victory.

Kentucky Wesleyan scored 24 points off of 17 turnovers while outscoring Salem 32 to 20 in the paint and tabbing 12 points on the fast break.

Walker-Crawford led the Panthers with 12 points and was four-for-five from the charity stripe.  Erin Dorn and Shelt each scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.  Shayla Wright dished out a game high seven assists while grabbing four defensive rebounds.

The Panthers will head to Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, Feb. 25 for their season finale at 2 pm CT.  Fans unable to make the trip are invited to Fetta for the final Watch Party of the season.  Kentucky Wesleyan already clinched a berth in the G-MAC postseason tournament, hosted by regular season champion Ursuline starting on March 2.

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