WISE, Va. -- On a night when the 18th ranked Lindsey Wilson College women's basketball team struggled to find scorers, senior Viktoria Krell took matters into her own hands to push the Blue Raiders past University of Virginia's College at Wise 80-75 on Thursday at Fred B. Greer Gymnasium.

Krell hit 9-of-11 free throws on her way to a career-high 31 points. The senior also pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out an assist. While scoring more than her average, Krell's performance dwarfed sophomore Ashley Rainey's 21 points, but every one of Rainey's buckets were important, as were her career-high 15 rebounds and four blocks which tied the school record.

Kristin Mullins led the Cavaliers with 26 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, while Amber Carter added 17 points and 10 assists.

Out of the gates, this Mid-South Conference regular-season opener for both teams looked like it would be a back-and-forth battle to the finish. But once Krell went into her only dry spell of the night and Rainey couldn't buy a bucket, the Cavs took advantage, pushing out to a first-half lead as large as 12 points.

At halftime, the Cavs led 47-37 and had the Blue Raiders searching for answers on the defensive end. Playing primarily a zone in the first half, Lindsey Wilson was forced to extent its press and play a stifling man-to-man defense to mount a comeback after the break.

While forcing UVa.-Wise into just two turnovers in the first half, Lindsey Wilson forced seven after halftime and dropped the Cav's shooting percentage to 28.6 percent, after allowing a 52.8 percent mark in the opening half.

The Blue Raiders missed all five of their threes in the first half, but found a way to knock down six in the second half. A big reason for the success was reserve junior Tiffany Williams who played all 12 of her minutes in the second half, knocking down 3-of-6 shots from behind the arc.

Williams contribution didn't end behind the arc as the Shawneetown, Ill., native also handed out three assists during the Blue Raider's impressive second-half run.

Senior Bethany Spillman capped off the comeback with a three at the 7:25 mark that put Lindsey Wilson back in the lead for the first time since early in the first half.

Then after giving up the lead again, it was Krell who came up with the answer with 47.7 seconds on the clock to put Lindsey Wilson in the lead for good at 76-75.

The senior was fouled 20 seconds later, knocking down both free throws to go up 78-75.

Mullins got a shot to tie the game with 11.4 seconds to play, but was called for travelling, which she disputed enough to earn a technical foul. Krell hit both ensuing free throws and Lindsey Wilson ran down the rest of the clock on its possession to finish with the win.

For the Cavs, it was also their first game as a member of the MSC in women's basketball.

Lindsey Wilson returns to action at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday at Pikeville (Ky.) College.