BOX SCORE

DEFIANCE, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rimmed out a potential game winning shot at the buzzer as Defiance College rallied to top the Fightin' Engineers 56-55 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

Defiance scored the game's final seven points to turn a 55-49 deficit into the victory.  Whitney Schalk of Defiance scored on a layup with eight seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets the lead, before the Fightin' Engineers rimmed out a three-pointer at the top of the key at the buzzer.

Kelsey Tietje led the Defiance offense with 21 points and nine rebounds.  Ashley Williams also reached double figures for the Yellow Jackets with 12 points.

Sophomore Josie Schmidt led the Rose-Hulman performance with 12 points on 6-10 from the field.  Junior Carrie Morris also reached double figures with 10 points.  Sophomores Jamie Loving and Abbie Marshall pitched in with seven points each.

Rose-Hulman shot 51% from the field, but Defiance relied on a 13-17 effort on the free throw line and five three-pointers to overcome the Fightin' Engineers hot shooting.

Defiance jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first half, before Rose-Hulman rallied to knot the score at 28-28 on a conventional three-point play by Marshall in the final second of the first half.

Loving scored with 1:59 left to give Rose-Hulman a six-point lead at 55-49.  Megan Zachrich added a field goal, and Tietje brought the margin within 55-54 on a score with 43 seconds.

Rose-Hulman dropped to 10-9 overall and 6-6 in league play, while Defiance improved to 7-12 and 6-6 in conference games.  The Fightin' Engineers head for an in-state matchup at Earlham College on Wednesday night.