MADISON, Wis. – After dropping consecutive games to the North Division leaders, the Edgewood College women's basketball team needed to get back in the win column on Thursday night against Maranatha Baptist. The Eagles used a 15-0 run early and maintained the lead to take the 61-47 victory.

Maranatha Baptist's Kristin Morrison put the Crusaders up two with a layup just four seconds in before the Eagles (11-7, 9-3 NAC) jumped ahead 4-2 on a pair of buckets by Brittany Bylsma and Danielle Dixon. Autumn Peotter then hit a three-point basket to give the Crusaders the lead for the final time.

Melanie Walker ignited the 15-0 run with a layup before Alison Tobin laid in two of her game-high 19 points. Shae Beckwith drained a pair of triples on the run and the Eagles took a commanding 19-5 lead with just over 14 minutes to play in the first half.

The Crusaders (5-12, 0-11 NAC) answered by scoring 16 of the next 20 points. Torey DeLozier capped the run with three free throws and Maranatha Baptist cut the deficit to 23-21 with 5:31 left in the first half.

Leading by three, Tobin scored five consecutive points for the Eagles over the final 3:22 of the first half, to stretch the lead to eight. However, Peotter made the final basket of the half with 28 seconds left to make the halftime score 34-28.

The Eagles quickly extended their lead in the second half, scoring the half's first eight points. Bylsma and Tobin had four points apiece on the run and the Eagles led 42-28 with just under 17 minutes left.

After the Eagles earned their largest lead of the game, 50-34 with 11:38 left, the Crusaders began to chip away at the deficit. DeLozier sparked a 10-2 run with an old fashioned three-point play, and then made a layup before Hallie Nelson connected on a three-point shot to cut the deficit to 52-42. DeLozier capped the run with a pair of free throws before the Eagles answered.

Beckwith made her third and final three-point basket of the game to push the lead back to double digits. Tobin followed Beckwith' triple with two free throws and Dixon knocked down a jump shot to cap the 7-0 spurt and give the Eagles a 59-44 lead with 4:10 left. The teams then exchanged baskets as the Eagles took the contest 61-47.

Tobin tied a career-high with those 19 points while Bylsma scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to record her second double-double this season and third of her career. Beckwith was the final Eagle in double figures with 11 points and Walker handed out a game and career-high six assists. Edgewood College dished out a season-high 21 assists on 25 field goals, marking the first time since last season the Eagles have dished out at least 20 assists. The Eagles handed out 21 helpers against Dominican University last year.

The Crusaders were led by Morrison and DeLozier who scored 12 points apiece. DeLozier also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds, with six coming on the offensive end.

Edgewood College will look for the momentum from tonight's game to carry over to Saturday when the Eagles travel to South Division leading Dominican University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and Dominican will provide live video and live stats for the tilt. Both links can be found on EdgewoodColleEagles.com.